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NATHAN HALE 

1776 



Published from the Fund 

Presented to the University by the 

1914 Editorial Board of the 

YALE DAILY NEWS 

Richard A. Douglas, Chairman 

Frederick G. Blackburn, Assignment Editor 
Stoddard King, Managing Editor 

George W, Patterson, IV, Business Manager 

Hundley S. Bonnie, Managing Editor 

Lindsay Bradford Laurence M. Marks Chester H. Plimpton 

George G. Jones Morgan P. Noyes Paul B, Valle 



Nathan Hale 1776 



Biography and Memorials 



By 
HENRY PHELPS JOHNSTON 

M 
Professor of History in the 

College of the City of New York 



/ 



REVISED AND ENLARGED 
EDITION 




New Haven : Yale University Press 

London: Humphrey Milford 

Oxford University Press 

MDCCCCXIV 



^- — o pu C 



Copyright, 1914 

BY 

Yale University Press 



y 



First printed November, 1914, 1000 copies 



^fC -1 /9/4 



)GI,A388790 ^^^ 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

We are coming to know more and more of Nathan 
Hale — an Interesting fact in Itself, and for his memory 
a welcome one. 

In the preface to the first edition of this work, atten- 
tion was called to the new sources of Information avail- 
able at that date, 1901, since the publication of the 
earliest biography of Hale by Stuart In 1856. During 
the past twelve years these sources have extended. Mr. 
I. W. Stuart, living at Hartford and near Hale's home, 
was fortunately drawn to the subject when sufficient mate- 
rial was at hand for a beginning, and when it was still 
possible to glean from personal recollections. His suc- 
cessors appreciate his pioneer work, In spite of his some- 
what free acceptance of traditions and reliance on state- 
ments, of assumed authority, made long after the event. 
This was natural and inevitable in his sympathetic desire 
to restore and perpetuate Hale's name and memory. For 
original material, however, he could draw upon not more 
than six or seven letters written by Hale, in addition to 
his diary, and a number from his friends. The latter 
he utilized to but a limited extent. 

What we may now describe as Hale's correspondence 
and papers has kept increasing until, to-day, so far as the 
author has been able to discover, the scattered collec- 
tion Includes nearly seventy separate pieces — all of them 
original manuscripts and of contemporary date. Sixty- 
four of these are printed. In whole or in part, in the 
present edition. They are chiefly letters — ten, with other 
material, being from Hale's pen and the rest from college 
classmates and later associates. Future biographers will 



via INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

doubtless add to the list, which, in view of the period 
represented, may be regarded as an exceptional, not to 
say a remarkable one. The screen of one hundred and 
' fifty years folds back, more often than not, with thank- 
less results, if one is following up the thread of individ- 
ual and social life. In the case of very few men of those 
transitional years in our history, not in public life, could 
such a correspondence be recovered to-day. 

We owe this fortunate survival of his records very 
much to Hale's own orderly care and his sincere appre- 
ciation of his friends. He preserved their letters, sys- 
tematically indorsed them, and seems to have kept them 
with him down to the time of his tragical fate. At least 
forty of their number are now known to us, which is 
probably more than half of what he received during his 
brief, active years from 1773 to 1776. Drifting in after 
time into other hands, their tender association saved 
them from common neglect and loss. Whatever value 
we may attach to their contents, their personal sugges- 
tion cannot fail to attract. Through nearly all of these 
letters there runs a note or expression of more than 
ordinary interest — in many of them, of affectionate 
interest — in Hale himself. His friends wrote to him 
because they were drawn to him. There can be no doubt 
of their respect, admiration, and love for the youth. 
Where we deal with personality, where we would wish 
to know Hale well, intimately, if possible, this warmth 
of feeling in the correspondence is a guiding light. We 
must regret all the more that so few of his own letters 
have been preserved. 

For the new material in this edition, the writer Is 
indebted, as in the first, to individuals and libraries. His 
acknowledgments are due to Hon. Simon Gratz, of 
Philadelphia; Mr. George M. Thornton, of Pawtucket, 
R. I.; Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, secretary Yale Uni- 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE ix 

versity; George Dudley Seymour, Esq., of New Haven; 
Mr. George E. Hoadley, of Hartford; Mr. George D. 
Smith and Mr. Robert H. Dodd, of New York, and the 
New York Public Library. The relative importance of 
these new contributions is pointed out in the text. 

The correspondence in the first edition was contributed 
by the late Rev. Edward Everett Hale, to whose daugh- 
ter. Miss Ellen Day Hale, the writer is under obligations 
for further use of his papers; by the late Mr. W. F. 
Havemeyer, of New York, who added to his Hale list the 
valuable letter from William Robinson, of which he 
kindly offered the author a copy shortly before his death; 
by Mr. Grenville Kane, of Tuxedo, N. Y., and Major 
Godfrey Wieners, of College Point, Long Island. Since 
1 90 1, a few of the Hale pieces have changed hands, his 
commission and the earliest of his known letters being 
now in the possession of Mr. William A. Read, of New 
York. The Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, is 
happily and properly the possessor of much the larger 
portion of the letters written to Hale — some thirty in 
all — as well as of his army diary, basket, and powder- 
horn. We are once more under obligations to this Soci- 
ety and its librarian, Mr. Albert C. Bates, for a free 
examination of the collection. At Yale University there 
are reminders of Hale's college life in his Society minutes 
and the restored dormitory in which he roomed. The 
graduate records published by Professor Franklin B. 
Dexter have been of great assistance, while his own inter- 
est in our subject, with that of Mr. Stokes, Mr. George 
Parmly Day, the treasurer, and other members and grad- 
uates of the University, Is cordially appreciated. Mr. 
Robert H. Kelby, librarian of the New York Historical 
Society, has again materially aided the writer in his 
searches among Its papers. We are indebted, also, to 
Miss Alice M. Gay, of Hartford, and Miss E. H. Fair- 



X INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

brother, of London, for expert examination and tran- 
scripts of records. 

The edition of 1901 — a limited one — was intended to 
be of a memorial character and, as such, included fac- 
simile reproductions of a few of Hale's letters, his camp 
relics, his schoolhouses, statues, and home. In the pres- 
ent edition, most of the reproductions are omitted, and 
in their place, as memorials perhaps more expressive of 
himself and his associations, we have given the great body 
of his correspondence. Some more detail has been intro- 
duced and some corrections made, but in their aim to 
represent Hale as he was known, and as we believe pos- 
terity should remember him, the two editions are one 
work. The power of the story lies in the simple record. 

The College of the City of New York, 
October i, 19 14. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introductory Note vii 

I Home and Ancestry — the Hales and the 

Strongs 1 

n Hale in College — Four Years at Yale (1769- 

1773) 18 

in Hale as Schoolmaster — at East Haddam and 

New London — His Engagement ... 40 
IV The Lexington Alarm — Hale Joins the Army 61 
V In Camp Near Boston — Besieging the Enemy 73 
VI With the Army at New York — Defeat on 

Long Island 88 

VII Hale in the British Lines — Capture and Exe- 
cution 98 

VIII Preservation of Hale's Memory — Other 

Points of Interest 135 

Appendix — Hale's Correspondence^ Army 

Diary, Etc., Bibliography, Index . . . 175 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

opposite page 

The Hale Homestead, South Coventry, Connecticut 9 

Hale's Powderhorn, Camp Book and Basket, 1115-16 64 

Monument to Hale at South Coventry, Connecticut 134 

Site of Hale's Execution, New York 162 

Autographs of Nathan Hale and His Father, 

Richard Hale 195 



NATHAN HALE 
1776 



I 



HOME AND ANCESTRY— THE HALES AND THE 

STRONGS 

Living on an ample farm at Coventry, Connecticut, 
in high and rolling country, near the beautiful Lake 
Waugaumbaug of the Mohegans, and with good neigh- 
bors about, Hale's family found its lines pleasantly 
cast. It was a typical colonial home — a type of the 
rural home in New England, with its modest character- 
istics, its busy and honest occupants, and its largely self- 
centered interests. Around it was the growing town com- 
munity, composed of people much alike, who faithfully 
filled out the round of daily duties, whose higher hope 
was to be gathered to their fathers, whose administra- 
tion of little neighborhood matters was training them 
for larger affairs, and who, in their distance from the 
official rut of the old world, were beginning to feel the 
invigorating sense of a practically independent life. One 
would find there the simple, hopeful, earnest society of the 
time, from which it was possible for individual members, 
young or old, to pass out into more absorbing spheres 
and act a greater part as ingenuously as they might have 
acted a lesser one at home, quite unconscious of or indif- 
ferent to the fact that others were looking on. Like its 
homestead structures, this folk, for the most part, was 
plain and solid in quality, adapted to seasons and condi- 
tions, and nobly answering its worth and purpose in 
colonial beginnings. 



2 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

We can imagine the interest of these Coventry people 
in the spot where they lived. Its associations were with 
the very old and the very new. In their blood and much 
of their home life, they still represented old England. 
The soil was new, untouched before by white man, with 
its original Indian owner, uncivilized and picturesque as 
ever, living or roaming not far away. The place, some 
twenty miles east of Hartford, lay in a tract belonging 
to the tribe of Mohegans, which their sachem "Joshua" 
deeded to a few private proprietors, who, in turn, sold 
its farm lands and plots to new settlers. The General 
Assembly of the Colony marked out a town there in 
1708, and gave it its name in 171 1. The older towns 
had been settled by families in groups, as a measure of 
safety and association, while the later ones grew up more 
often through individual enterprise. But they all flour- 
ished apace, some towns throwing out others beyond 
them and within easy reach, with the meeting-house con- 
veniently centered, until in the brief period of one hun- 
dred and fifty years, or by the time of the Revolution, 
the population of New England had increased to over 
seven hundred thousand, compactly placed, homogeneous, 
self-governed, and fit, with the sister colonies, to enter 
upon national life. 

And how those early comers, we may note in passing, 
seem to have clung, even in the third generation, to the 
traditions of life and customs in the mother country! It 
was no mere coincidence that the Connecticut Assembly 
named the town in question after old Coventry in Eng- 
land. The town names in the central and eastern coun- 
ties in this colony, as in Massachusetts, and in scarcely 
less degree in the other colonies, tell of the genuine inter- 
est they long retained in the birthplaces of their grand- 
parents, whatever they may have thought of revenue acts, 
commercial monopoly, and ministerial appointments; and 



HOME AND ANCESTRY 3 

In many households could have been found, as heir- 
looms distributed by gift or the wills of the first settlers, 
more than one tangible piece of evidence that old Eng- 
land was not altogether forgotten by the New. So not 
only will one see repeated on the map of Connecticut the 
names of Ashford, and Bolton, and Canterbury, and 
Chatham, and Chester; of Colchester, Coventry, Derby, 
Durham, Essex, Glastonbury, and Guilford; of Hart- 
ford, Kent, Lyme, Milford, New Haven, and New Lon- 
don; of Norwalk, Norwich, Pomfret, Preston, Stamford, 
Stratford, Windsor, and Woodstock; but in their home- 
steads he would have seen at that date some of the chairs 
and chests, the books and pieces of plate, the spoons, 
dishes, buckles, and quilts, and the family Bible, with its 
precious record of births, marriages, and deaths, which 
their possessors prized for their ancestral associations 
across the sea. 

Coventry was Hale's birthplace. Of his boyhood and 
country life we could expect to know little, so far as any 
household records would reveal it. Those years, and 
indeed the course of domestic experiences generally, 
varied little in the colony circles. From glimpses, tradi- 
tions, and fragmentary diaries a picture could be drawn, 
which, in its perspective, would do for all. Early mar- 
riages were the rule. Hale's father, born February 28, 
17 1 7, was twenty-nine; his mother, born February 7, 
1727, was nineteen. They were married in Coventry, 
May 2, 1746, and lived and died in the place. Their 
son Nathan, to whose memory these pages are dedicated, 
was born June 6, 1755, the fifth boy and sixth child in 
the family of twelve. He had eight brothers and three 
sisters, two dying In infancy. David and Jonathan were 
twins. His elder sister, being, like her mother and 
grandmother, the eldest daughter, bore the same name, 
Elizabeth. The other children were Samuel, John, 



4 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Joseph, Enoch, Richard, Billy, Joanna, and Susanna, 
several of whom married and have descendants living. 
Nathan was doubtless named after one of the Nathan 
Strongs on his mother's side of the house. 

It will help to gauge the characteristics of Hale's fam- 
ily — we can come into closer touch with the members of 
the household, better understand their manner of life, 
their traits, their strength or weaknesses, their views, 
hopes, and prospects — if we turn a moment to the line 
of their forebears. Lineage sheds a certain light. In 
Hale's case there are no gaps in the record of the imme- 
diate generations. Both on his paternal and maternal 
side, his descent can be traced continuously to its Ameri- 
can beginnings. Its genealogies contain their proportion 
of individual histories, in which one may detect a thread 
of family resemblances or rate the value of the blood 
and fiber represented. As in a hundred other cases, also, 
here and there, in the direct and collateral branches, at 
different points and in different generations, we meet 
with some fine development. Some strain of superiority 
or rare worth will be found asserting itself in the person 
of a distinguished judge, an eminent divine, a public 
benefactor, or again in the person of a youthful patriot. 
The good people of that day not only believed in the 
transmission of qualities and observed likenesses, but they 
highly valued the living influence of one generation upon 
another — an influence which modern conditions are grad- 
ually lessening. Neighbors then, more often than not, 
were relatives. Hale could remember his great-grand- 
father, and of his grandmother's graces, and guardian- 
ship over him, he himself speaks with appreciation and 
feeling. There is material here for the study of heredity 
and the influence or predominance of individualism in our 
national growth. 



HOME AND ANCESTRY 5 

The ships that sailed into Massachusetts Bay in the 
notable years between 1630 and 1640 brought over what 
local historians like to call much "precious freight." 
They brought more than one stout heart and devoted 
group, v/hich old England could ill afford to spare, but 
in whom New England found her making. Among these 
first comers — commonwealth builders as they were to 
prove — were the ancestors of Nathan Hale. The names 
of his father, Richard Hale, and his mother, Elizabeth 
Strong, take us back to their great-grandparents, the 
Hales and the Strongs, who followed Governor Win- 
throp from England to Boston to help break ground for 
the new settlements on the Charles River and the Connec- 
ticut. In later years, their names appear again at this 
point in the wilderness or that town on the coast, showing 
that they took their part abreast with the others in the 
active work of colonization. 

On the father's side the immigrant was Robert Hale, 
who came, we are told, of the old and knighted family 
of Hales in Kent. That he cared little for crests or 
coats of arms, and much more for a new start in life 
and a freer atmosphere, may perhaps be inferred from 
his leaving England at one of the earliest opportunities. 
Making Charlestown, Massachusetts, his permanent 
home, he assisted in founding the church there In 1632, 
and became deacon, selectman, ensign, and surveyor. 
Evidently an energetic and thrifty individual — by occu- 
pation a blacksmith — he kept increasing his acres until 
he owned fields and lots on Charlestown Neck, along the 
Mystic River, and adjoining the roads in the vicinity 
which were to become the scene of some lively warfare in 
1775. One of his neighbors, following him two or three 
years later, was that George Bunker whose famous hill 
stands in the new world for all and more than Mara- 
thon's mound has so long stood for in the old. It was 



6 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

to remain for a descendant of his in the fifth generation — 
the young captain of 1776 — to assist in ridding the ances- 
tral farm of an enemy's presence. Robert Hale's pros- 
perity and intelligence no doubt led him to share in the 
desire which the leading colonists felt to educate preach- 
ers for their multiplying churches on their own soil, and 
we presently find him sending his eldest son, John, to the 
newly founded Harvard College. 

This was the Rev. John Hale, graduated in 1657, who 
was the first and long-settled pastor at Beverly, just 
beyond Salem, Massachusetts. He is described as a rep- 
resentative man, of recognized abilities, generous dis- 
position, public-spirited, and, of course, a Calvinist of the 
prevailing robust type. The occasional hardships and 
misfortunes of his people he made his own. In 1676, 
when King Philip's War caused distress, he directed the 
selectmen of the parish to dispose of £6, about one twelfth 
of his year's salary, for the general defense. In 1690, 
he went as chaplain on Phipps' disastrous expedition 
against Quebec, not only to fight the annoying French- 
man, but also to watch over a company of his own young 
parishioners. Inevitably, with Salem so near, he was 
identified with the witchcraft trials, but latterly, through 
a personal experience, was convinced of the error of the 
proceedings, and in 1697 issued a "Modest Inquiry" 
into the nature of the delusion. "Such," he writes, "was 
the darkness of that day, the tortures and lamentations of 
the afflicted, and the power of former precedents, that 
we walked in the clouds and could not see our way"; but, 
as he continues in another connection, "observing the 
events of that sad catastrophe. Anno 1692, I was brought 
to a more strict scanning of the principles I had imbibed, 
and by scanning, to question, and by questioning at length 
to reject many of them." His revulsion against the pain- 
ful business, even though partial, could only have deep- 



HOME AND ANCESTRY 7 

ened his human sympathies and drawn him nearer to his 
flock. Upon his death or earlier, his family, as in so 
many other instances, dispersed to find new fields. One 
son remained at Beverly, another became a pastor and 
settled at Ashford, Connecticut, and a third son, Samuel, 
moved along the coast, first to Newburyport and then to 
Portsmouth. 

The line we are following comes down through this 
Samuel Hale. There is little recorded of him, but it is 
to be noticed that, like his father and grandfather, he 
was represented by a son at Harvard, also named Samuel, 
who remained at Portsmouth, and of whom we shall hear 
again as a good citizen, defender of his country, and 
notable schoolmaster. Another son, named Richard, of 
more interest to us, fell into the general drift, as it would 
appear, looked about for richer soil, perhaps a less rigor- 
ous climate, and with other wide-awake farmers settled 
in a new locality. About 1744, a young, unmarried man, 
he found his way into Connecticut and made choice of 
his future home in the town of Coventry, some twenty 
miles east of Hartford. This Richard, fourth from the 
immigrant, was the father of our Nathan Hale. 

Upon Hale's mother's side, the story of descent is in 
some respects a repetition of his father's. That young 
Nathan himself would have dwelt with a most affection- 
ate interest on what he knew of it may be gathered from 
some of the last expressions we have from his pen. To 
his brother Enoch he wrote from camp: "This will prob- 
ably find you in Coventry; if so, remember me to all my 
friends, particularly belonging to the family. Forget 
not frequently to visit and strongly to represent my duty 
to our good grandmother Strong. Has she not repeat- 
edly favored us with her tender, most important advice? 
The natural tie is sufficient, but increased by so much 
goodness, our gratitude cannot be too sensible." Hale's 



8 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

mother was not then living, but in her mother, as just 
described, we doubtless see the temperament which ruled 
her own household. That she was gentle, true, and watch- 
ful may be readily assumed, and perhaps we perceive 
some of her stronger traits of character reflected and 
emphasized in those of her son. "Our good grand- 
mother Strong" draws us equally to the youth whose love 
and remembrance were deep and manly, and to the lin- 
eage which produced such womanhood. But the story 
is not exceptional. The Strongs, like the Hales, were a 
typical family, through whom, in connection with the 
many others with corresponding or varying records, we 
are enabled to observe the working of domestic and social 
influences in colonial life. 

The head of the line here was Elder John Strong, who 
in the spring of 1630 sailed from Plymouth, England, in 
the ship Mary and John, and helped in the founding of 
Dorchester, south of Boston. His numerous descend- 
ants — quite a remarkable list — are scattered to-day 
throughout the country. Passing on to Taunton and then 
to Windsor, Connecticut, he returned to Massachusetts in 
1659, and with a few others, for the third time, started 
a new settlement, which became Northampton. His 
grandsons, Joseph and Elnathan, settled in Connecticut, 
the former at Coventry, about 17 15, twenty or thirty 
years before Richard Hale. This Joseph, known as 
Justice Joseph Strong, grew up with the place and became 
a leading townsman, filling the offices of treasurer and 
justice of the peace for many years, and representing 
Coventry in the General Assembly for sixty-five sessions. 
Vigorous, both mentally and physically, he could preside 
at a town meeting in his ninetieth year. He was suc- 
ceeded in some of his offices and a portion of his lands by 
his son, also Joseph, generally called Captain Joseph 
Strong. In 1724, this Joseph married his second cousin, 



HOME AND ANCESTRY 9 

Elizabeth Strong, daughter of Preserved Strong, the 
"grandmother" referred to above; and it was their eldest 
daughter, again Elizabeth, fifth from the immigrant, who 
became the wife of Richard and the mother of Nathan 
Hale. 

Hale's immediate ancestors were thus among the 
first inhabitants and co-builders of his native place, and 
exercised no little influence on the gathering community. 
Success seems to have attended the enterprise and hard 
labors of these families. From the town records we learn 
that as early as 1724 Justice Strong was able to turn over 
to his son. Captain Strong, a farm of ninety acres, in 
consideration of "parental love and affection," and that 
Richard Hale, in 1745, could purchase from Talcott 
and Lathrop, apparently two of the original proprietors 
of the Coventry tract, an extensive farm of two hundred 
and forty acres. These lands lay in the southern part 
of the survey, or in what is now the separate town of 
South Coventry, The Strong homestead, in which Hale's 
mother was probably born, was pulled down a number 
of years ago, while the Hale homestead, which still 
stands in good condition, is understood not to be the 
original dwelling in which Nathan was born, but one 
of later date, standing two or three rods northwest of 
it, with which, as the references show, he was familiar. 
Associations with it were recalled in after life by one of 
Hale's nieces, Mrs. Elizabeth Abbot, who lived there for 
fifteen years, from about 1784 to 1799. "From my 
earliest recollection," she wrote to a cousin in 1856, "I 
have felt a deep interest in that unfortunate uncle. When 
his death or the manner of it was spoken of my grief 
would come forth in tears. Living in the old homestead, 
I frequently heard allusions to him by the neighbors and 
persons that worked in the family, much more so than by 
near relatives. It seemed the anguish they felt did not 



10 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

allow them to make it a subject of conversation. Was it 
not so with your mother?"^ 

Such was Hale's ancestral background. Solid qualities, 
excellent traits, and simple ways — such as any one 
familiar with the domestic li^e of the later New England 
colonists Mould recognize — had come down with tradi- 
tions and memories to be passed along. All combined 
to produce the stout-hearted, hard-working, practical, 
self-reliant and generally serious-minded circle of rela- 
tives and friends among whom he was brought up. There 
were great possibilities in those little communities that 
worked out into larger activities and actualities. It was 
the seedtime existence, that was destined, with what 
could be found everywhere up and down the continental 
coast, to expand into the energetic and productive life 
that especially marked our nineteenth century. Descend- 
ants of the Coventry Hales and Strongs, as of a multi- 
tude of others, have been, and are to-day, clergymen, 
lawyers, professors, editors, farmers, and business men, 
not to forget delightful and worthy women, who repre- 
sent the development or are honored in the sacrifice of 
the young men of "Seventy-Six." 

At Hale's home the responsibilities were great, but 
bravely met by the parents. Of the head of the house 
it is said, that "never a man worked so hard for both 

^Mr. Abiel Abbot, of East Wilton, New Hampshire, son of Mrs. 
Abbot, quoted above, wrote in 1856 that the house she lived in, 1784- 
1799, was built many years before; "but parts, still unfinished when she 
went to live there, were finished at different times afterwards. Allu- 
sions were still frequent to the old house, then torn down, which had 
stood two or three rods to the southeast." Again: "Mother's home con- 
tinued to be at the old homestead in the family of her grandfather 
[Deacon Richard Hale] and her uncle John [Nathan's brother] until 
her own marriage in 1799." References to the "north chamber," with 
a supposed profile of him on its door, seem to indicate that it was 
Nathan's room. Further extracts are given in Chapter VIII. — MSS. in 
Connecticut Historical Societv Archives. 



HOME AND ANCESTRY ii 

worlds as Deacon Hale." The town and ecclesiastical 
society confided in him. He held offices from each. 
For a few terms in succession the Coventry deputies to 
the Connecticut Assembly were Hale and Strong. Of 
the mother we have already formed an impression — 
certainly a domestic and devoted woman, the fitting link 
between the "good grandmother" and more than one 
superior child and descendant. The six things such a 
family, young and old, would have to think of and live 
for the year round were home, farm, church, school, 
chores, play. Stuart, Hale's first biographer, describes 
it as "a quiet, strict, godly household, where the Bible 
ruled and family prayers never failed, nor was grace 
ever omitted at meals, nor work done after sundown on 
a Saturday night." One item would stagger the modern 
parent — not only clothes for twelve, but the cloth must be 
spun at home or around among the neighbors. It was so 
at the Hales'. 

Work on the farm should have gone along handily, 
as there were boys enough to call upon. Incidents of 
this part of their life would hardly be looked for. It 
may be of interest to recall that soon after the death 
of old Deacon Hale, or in 1804, his son David, younger 
brother of Nathan, removed to the ancestral farm and 
is understood to have made it a model one. This David, 
like Nathan, graduated at Yale College, and entered 
the ministry. An unassuming and lovable man, also 
strict and methodical it would appear, his delicate 
health forced him into open-air life. Whether he 
was putting into larger practice what he had learned 
under his father one cannot say, but his system must 
have reflected the old days in part. As to practical 
farming, we are told that "he would never suffer 
a dumb animal to be abused. His horses and oxen 
were trained and guided in the field without fear of 



12 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

whip or goad." Saturday night was strictly observed. 
"Even in harvest time, on Saturday afternoon his work- 
men were called from the field and dismissed with supper 
in season for each to reach his home before sun-down." 
"The interior affairs of the household were conducted 
with like method and regularity. There was a fixed hour 
for rising and retiring, for devotional exercises, and for 
every meal. Order was the law of the house and of 
the farm; and whoever was employed in either, though 
but for one day, was required to conform to the estab- 
lished rules. . . . Mr. Hale was as rigid in exacting 
what was right from others as he was conscientious and 
even scrupulous in doing right himself," and with this 
"was blended a kindness and gentleness of spirit hardly 
less rare." "A generous hospitality always graced his 
board, and his charity, often bestowed in secret, relieved 
the wants of the poor."^ David's farm was evidently a 
fine one, but many things about it would not have been 
new to Nathan. 

All, of course, had some schooling. Whether Nathan 
and the others attended the original Coventry school- 
house, which, by town-meeting vote, was to be twenty 
feet long and eighteen feet wide, or a later schoolhouse, 
now transformed into a dwelling, is uncertain. By the 
same vote the schoolmaster's wages were fixed at eleven 
pounds for the winter quarter, and the pupils' enjoy- 
ment of the term depended upon his disposition and the 
depth of the snow. The pastimes were the pastimes of 
to-day in the farming towns. "Nathan" — quoting 
Stuart again — "early exhibited a fondness for those rural 
sports to which such a birthplace and scenery naturally 
invited him. He loved the gun and fishing-rod, and 

1 Life of David Hale, son of Rev. David Hale, by Joseph P. Thomp- 
son, D.D. New York. pp. 7-10. 



HOME AND ANCESTRY 13 

exhibited great Ingenuity in fashioning juvenile imple- 
ments of every sort. He was fond of running, leaping, 
wrestling, firing at a mark, throwing, lifting, playing ball. 
In consequence, his infancy, at first feeble, soon hardened 
by simple diet and exercise into a firm boyhood. And 
with the growth of his body his mind, naturally bright 
and active, developed rapidly. He mastered his books 
with ease, w^as fond of reading out of school, and was 
constantly applying his information." If, according to 
present standards, the boys' acquirements of that day 
were simple, perhaps their absorptive powers were more 
active and tenacious. In those interesting years, young 
Nathan and his fellows could not but have added to the 
"three R's" and their accompaniments the more valuable 
impressions and knowledge — more valuable in view of 
the great struggle they were soon to enter — to be derived 
from ordinary listening and observation as when their 
fathers and elder brothers returned from the campaigns 
against the French to tell of Ticonderoga, Crown Point, 
and Quebec, or when, a little later, the Stamp Act brought 
them all to their feet in protest and revolt. 

The old Congregational meeting-house which Hale's 
family attended, facing the town green and overlooking 
the lake, was burned down several years ago. The par- 
sonage was a few rods south of It. As Hale's father 
and grandfather Strong were deacons of the church, and 
the pastor. Rev. Dr. Joseph Huntington, Intimate with 
their circles, the boy was surrounded by all the religious 
influences which New England Congregationalism sought 
to extend. It was In this parish church that the Hale 
Monument Association met on November 25, 1836, and 
listened to an address by Hon. Andrew T. Judson. Refer- 
ring to Nathan, he said: "Here was his birthplace. Here 
were his kindred, some of whom survive, and are now 
gratified with the respect you pay his memory. Here 



14 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

he received the first rudiments of a political education. 
Here was the Mother to whom he would have sent back, 
in sweet accents of love and tenderness, his latest aspira- 
tions. Here, upon this very spot, and in this very church, 
he paid his earliest devotions. Before this altar he first 
bent his knee in reverence to the God of his fathers. 
Among this community he first inhaled that fervent and 
glowing spirit of patriotism, which conducted him to the 
field of battle." 

When Hale was twelve years old he lost his mother. 
She died April 21, 1767, at the age of forty. When 
young, we are told, he was not in the best of health. 
Sometimes he is described as "the flower of the family"; 
but his nephew is probably more correct in saying that 
"he grew up among quiet scenes, and filled his place well 
on all occasions. He is remembered in the neighborhood, 
or was before all those were dead who knew him, as 
not particularly distinguished from his brothers and 
other young men. . . , He was a simple-hearted, well- 
educated, intelligent country youth, always doing what 
he thought right; and that in those days was nothing, 
singular."^ We infer that his future career was decided 
upon about this time, or, at least, that he was to receive 
a college education, and no doubt the boy was happy in 
the prospect. If, according to early recollections of the 
family, his mother was more anxious and urgent than 
others in the matter, it is not diflicult to see what influ- 
ences beyond her own wishes and perhaps intuitive 
appreciation of Nathan's character and talents may have 
had weight. The representation of college-bred men 
among the Strongs in Connecticut was increasing. Hale's 
own uncle, his mother's younger brother. Rev. Joseph 
Strong, a graduate of Yale College in the class of 1749, 

1 From an article or criticism in the New York Journal of Com- 
merce for July 10, 1846, written by David Hale, then one of its editors. 



HOME AND ANCESTRY 15 

was at that date the settled pastor over the village 
church of Salmon Brook in Granby, Connecticut, north- 
west of Coventry, while Rev. Nathan Strong, class of 
1742, his mother's second cousin, was settled over the 
north parish of his own town, but a few miles away. 
The latter's son, also Nathan, who was to become a dis- 
tinguished divine in the State, was just then, in 1767, a 
student in the college, where we shall meet with him 
a little later as one of the instructors. Another son, 
Joseph, was preparing to enter the same institution. Rela- 
tionships of all degrees were made much of in those days, 
the more so where the relatives were parish ministers; 
and when the Rev. "Uncle" Strong or the Rev. "Cousin" 
Strong was housed over the Sabbath at Deacon Strong's 
or Deacon Hale's, It was an event of some social con- 
sequence. On these and like occasions, the rising genera- 
tion would come under casual inspection and comment, 
and if some youth In the circle seemed to show both 
spiritual and Intellectual promise, he might be marked 
as one to succeed the learned elders, and his parents be 
advised to enter him for the profession. The ranks of 
that influential colonial body, the New England clergy, 
were filled much In this way, and In the decisions the 
mothers' views and hopes for their sons were not to be 
ignored. 

However It may have been in this case, a college educa- 
tion was decided upon, not only for Nathan, but for his 
next elder brother, Enoch, as well. Whether they were 
then, at that early age, expecting to enter the ministry, we 
cannot say. There was time enough for a final decision 
later, even after graduation. The present task was prep- 
aration. Except in a few of the larger towns where pre- 
paratory schools existed, the boys of that time were gener- 
ally fitted for college by the minister of their parish. Ben- 
jamin Tallmadge, one of Hale's classmates, states in his 



i6 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

"Memoir" that he and other boys were so prepared by 
his father, pastor at Brookhaven, Long Island. Hale's 
pastor, Rev. Dr. Huntington, brother of the Hon. 
Samuel Huntington, subsequently one of the presidents 
of the Continental Congress and Governor of Connecti- 
cut, was one of the more prominent of the colony min- 
isters, inclined to liberality in his theological views and 
pronounced in his sympathies with America in the Revo- 
lutionary struggle. Reviewing events in an election ser- 
mon after the war, he said: "We once loved Britain 
most dearly, but Britain the tyrant we could not love. 
Our souls abhorred her measures. We rose from the 
dust, where we had been long prostrate. Our breasts 
glowed with noble ardor. We invoked the God of our 
fathers and we took the field." The old, attractive par- 
sonage still stands in altered shape on Coventry hill, and 
there without doubt young Nathan and his brother 
Enoch regularly recited to Mr. Huntington from such 
Latin authors as Eutropius, Nepos, Virgil, Cicero, and 
Horace — John Trumbull, the painter, who fitted at Nor- 
wich about the same period, stating that these were the 
books he had to study — while at times the parson must 
have wandered from the lessons to denounce the policy 
of the mother-country toward the colonies and inspire 
the boys with his own vision of the greatness of the new 
nation destined to grow up here and which it would be 
theirs to live in. In September, 1769, the two brothers 
entered the Freshman class at Yale College, Nathan then 
being in his fifteenth year. 

Hale now has seven years before him — four at college, 
two behind the schoolmaster's desk, and one in his coun- 
try's service. His career will end where that of most 
men begins — just on the edge of manhood. We shall 
not have an exceptional experience during those seven 
years. There will be no occasion, as there can be no 



HOME AND ANCESTRY 17 

wish, to glorify Hale. We shall find him a young man 
of gifts and purpose and action, as others among his 
companions were. Those were the years of his making, 
and at the end there will come an unexpected test of 
what was in him. Our special and public interest centers 
in this test — the experience of the last twenty days of 
his life. It is the interest which common humanity feels 
and expresses in an act of rare devotion, where the act 
is performed less from impulse than in response to the 
call of duty, fortified by calm reflection and resolutely 
followed to the end. There is also added the charm 
of his character and his youth. Scarcely turned the age 
of twenty-one, he will rise to the demands of an extreme 
occasion and play the man. We justly regard his sacri- 
fice as an ideal act of patriotism. With a touching and 
noble expression of regret that he could do no more, he 
surrendered in his country's behalf the most that a man 
can give — his life and his good name. History reserves 
the shining examples for herself and frequently makes 
one heroic episode consecrate a lifetime. So Hale in a 
way becomes endeared to us through all his years. 



II 



HALE IN COLLEGE— FOUR YEARS AT YALE 
(1769-1773) 

In his new sphere, In the student world now opening 
before him, It becomes possible to form some sort of per- 
sonal acquaintance with Hale. Here through the record, 
as well as Incidentally through his fellows and instruc- 
tors, who long cherished their recollections of him, the 
main outlines of his course can be followed. If we have 
little from his own pen, If we must forego an Insight 
into his Inner self as he might have reflected it in letters 
or In entries of a private journal — material which sel- 
dom existed and is rarely found — we can still see and 
appreciate him In his surroundings. The intimate and 
whole-souled friendships of college days are proverbial, 
and Hale seems to have had his full share of them. It 
is from this source largely that we are assured of his 
manliness, scholarship, attractive personality, and the 
general high tone of his nature. Where he is recalled as 
"a much loved classmate," there Is a sweetness and a 
value in the memory peculiarly Its own; or if there are 
references, though brief, to his cultivated mind and gen- 
erous Impulses, or to his unassuming air and quiet dig- 
nity, or to his popularity as seen in the honors voted 
him, and again to the promise of his success in life, we 
have a recognized basis from which to estimate his 
worth. He should be understood by the student of 
to-day. Every college generation produces young men 
who impress themselves upon their associates somewhat 
as Hale did In his time. 



HALE IN COLLEGE 19 

In 1769, Yale College at New Haven was but a town 
academy, compared with the spreading university now 
starting on its third century of growth. But relatively 
its usefulness and distinction were hardly less marked. 
Its acting President was Rev. Dr. Naphtall Daggett, 
who also continued his duties as Professor of Divinity, 
the first and only full professorship In the college at that 
time. While not especially capable as an administrator, 
one of his students has said of him that he was an instruct- 
ive preacher and another that he was appreciated and 
loved. In the younger group, among the tutors, there 
were several able men, such as Ebenezer Baldwin, Joseph 
Lyman, John Trumbull, Joseph Howe, Nathan Strong, 
and Timothy Dwight, with whom Hale came in contact 
in one year or another and felt their influence, though not 
all were his Immediate teachers. The last two gave 
promise of, and won, a wide reputation in their fields, 
Dwight becoming President of Yale, and Strong a shining 
light of the Hartford pulpit. Howe, also a minister, 
died early, just as his talents were attracting attention. 
Hale notes his death In his army diary. Strong was 
Hale's relative and fellow-townsman, mentioned in the 
previous chapter, with both of whom Dwight was dis- 
tantly connected, being a descendant of Elder Strong, 
of Northampton. Our young student thus found him- 
self, certainly in his Junior and Senior years, among 
personal friends, and In these friends he was equally 
fortunate In finding scholarly instructors and kindly 
advisers. How highly and fondly Dwight came to 
regard him will appear In another connection. 

During Hale's course there were about one hundred 
students In the four classes. His own, the class of 1773, 
was the largest, with Its thirty-six graduates. At that 
date three buildings stood on the college grounds — one, 
the original Yale College, being a dormitory with dining- 



20 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

hall, standing on the site of present Osborn Hall and 
called "Old College"; another, a chapel and library, 
afterwards known as the Athenaeum; and a third, a 
later dormitory dedicated as "Connecticut Hall," but 
usually called "New College." Even then they needed 
repairs and finishing touches, as we find from the Presi- 
dent's petitions to the Colony Assembly in 1768 and 
1769. The several things, he says, "yet wanting to put 
the College into a condition for Answering the great and 
valuable Designs of it" are a decent fence for the yard, 
a more convenient kitchen and dining-room, the comple- 
tion of the entries of the Brick College, finishing the 
new Library on the upper floor of the Chapel, and carry- 
ing the lower part of the Chapel steeple up to that 
point. "A larger number of instructors" was included 
among the wants. As usual, the Assembly appropriated 
the merest fraction of what was called for.^ 

Of these earliest buildings, the new college, the above 
Brick College, long to be remembered as old "South 
Middle," still stands on the Campus in restored form, 
much as Hale used to know it. He roomed within its 
walls, in its south entry, during one or more of his four 
years.^ His roommates, three being then assigned to a 
room with its two "studies," were his brother Enoch and 
a classmate, Isaac Gridley. 

1 Archives State Library, Hartford, "Colleges and Schools," Vol. II, 
Nos. 88, 94. 

2 The long accepted tradition that Hale roomed in present "South 
Middle" we believe to be established as fact by Tallmadge's letter to 
him, in the Appendix, beginning "Friendly Sir" and addressed at the end 

"To Mr Nathan Hale 

N. South Stairs." 
Though undated, other references show it to have been written in their 
Junior or Senior year, 1772-73. The above "N" is clearly an abbrevia- 
tion of "New." That is. Hale roomed in new college, not the old, while 
the additional fact appears that his room was in south stairs or south 
entry. The "Friendly Sir" is preceded by the letter "N" and another 



HALE IN COLLEGE 21 

How that early colonial college would measure up as 
compared with modern standards is best told by Pro- 
fessor Dexter, whose researches and long familiarity 
with its history make his estimate authoritative. 

Student life in 1750 [he writes], was in essentials 
very closely akin to student life in 1907. Undoubtedly 
there was more coarseness and less luxury, more formal 
relations with the governing body and less mental im- 
provement, perhaps more experience in grace and cer- 
tainly less experience in the world, — but this is only 
saying in another way that the college shared the general 
character of its century, and was not, as we should not 
expect it to be, ahead of the times. . . . 

In general, my conception of the little community of 
that epoch — varying in size from ninety members to 
nearly twice that number — represents it as substantially 
homogeneous, living in the main a separate cloistered 
life, with few great excitements and little knowledge of 
the world outside, not excessively studious nor remark- 
ably quiet, but reasonably responsive to the appeals of 
conscience and appreciative of the gaieties of life. In 
proportion to their means, they were, I am inclined to 
think, as lavish in personal expenditure and as ready for 
combined extravagance as any generation since. There 
was always a considerable group of candidates for the 
ministry who had chosen their vocation at a somewhat 
advanced age, and thus contributed a more settled and 
sober element; yet even with this makeweight, the com- 
munity abounded in liveliness. 

With our different habits we may imagine their life 
uncouth and barbarous; but we need not waste our pity. 
To them it was a life of breadth and freedom and stim- 

character, usually taken to be in Tallmadge's hand. On close compari- 
son it is found to be Hale's indorsement "N^" [No. 2?]. As these stu- 
dents were then corresponding in a friendly way, this, apparently, was 
the second letter Hale had received, and he may have so marked it. — 
Original MSS. in Connecticut Historical Society Archives. 



22 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

ulus, compared with that in the ordinary New England 
village of their earlier years; and the college brother- 
hood, then even more than now, found in itself a zest 
and a capacity for enjoyment beyond the reach or 
perhaps the comprehension of maturer years.^ 

We do not have to go to the standing rules to learn 
that supervision of the college was of the parental order. 
Naturally, the Puritan touch would be found in all the 
moral and religious obligations enjoined — the living of 
blameless lives, the frequent reading of the Scriptures 
as the fountain of light and truth, the strict observance 
of the Sabbath, and the regular attendance on public and 
private devotions. Delinquencies and offenses were pun- 
ishable largely by fines — a survival of the practice In the 
mediaeval guilds and later corporations — the fines rang- 
ing from a penny for absence from morning or evening 
prayers In the chapel, to ten or twelve shillings, or sus- 
pension, or expulsion for repeated or glaring misdemean- 
ors, although by Hale's time this demand upon the pocket 
seemed to be yielding to more rational discipline. Among 
the familiar and milder pranks was the ringing of the col- 
lege bell at unearthly hours. Fines did not stop It. A 
Freshman caught In the act, bell-rope In hand, was boxed 
on the ears by the President, by way of change and on 
advice of the tutorial faculty; but the ringing went on, 
to be Indulged In now and then far Into the following 
century. 

Those were the days, as well, when much outward 
ceremony must be observed toward the college authori- 
ties. All the students were to stand with hats off when- 
ever the President passed along the walks, and all were 
to bow when he went in or out of the Chapel; but this — 

1 "Student Life at Yale in the Early Days of Connecticut Hall, by 
Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Litt.D." Transactions of the New Haven 
Colony Historical Society, Vol. VII, p. 297. 



HALE IN COLLEGE 23 

the chapel bowing — they still do with the same respect 
and perhaps for the old days' sake. In these formalities, 
the Freshmen found themselves a sadly abused class, 
their insignificance being even ojfficially recognized. 
Minor indignities they might put up with, but to be 
compelled to wait upon and be messengers to upper- 
class men must have seemed to them sheer oppression — 
an excessive stretch of the humility they were taught as 
boys to show to their elders. Consolation could come 
only in the prospect of the retaliation they would mete 
out to the next set of innocents. We have a description 
of campus customs and college costume in the reminis- 
cences of Oliver Wolcott, Hamilton's successor as Sec- 
retary of the Treasury, in the very summer of 1773, 
when Hale was about to graduate. 

I went up to college in the evening [he tells us] , to 
observe the scene of my future exploits with emotions of 
awe and reverence. Men in black robes, white wigs and 
high cocked hats, young men in camblet gowns, passed 
us in small groups. The men in robes and wigs I was 
told were professors; the young men in gowns were 
students. There were young men in black silk gowns, 
some with bands and others without. These were either 
tutors in the college or resident graduates to whom the 
title of "Sir" was accorded. When we entered the col- 
lege yard a new scene was presented. There was a class 
who wore no gowns and who walked but never ran or 
jumped in the yard. They appeared much in awe or 
looked surlily after they passed by the young men habited 
in gowns and staves. Some of the young gownsmen 
treated those who wore neither hats nor gowns in the 
yard with harshness and what I thought indignity. I 
give an instance: "Nevill, go to my room, middle story 
of old college, No. — , and take from it a pitcher, fill it 
from the pump, place it in my room and stay there till 
my return. ..." The domineering young men I was 



24 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

told were scholars or students of the sophomore class, 
and those without hats and gowns and who walked in 
the yard were freshmen, who out of the hours of study 
were waiters or servants to the authority, the president, 
professors, tutors and undergraduates.^ 

But behind this exterior could be found that freedom, 
companionship, and communistic enthusiasm, which have 
always made the American student's life one of the hap- 
piest of his experiences. Those generally robust sons 
of colonial parents were not likely to spend four years 
in tame existence. The numerous offenses mentioned in 
the penal laws of the college show how far their spirits 
had to be curbed. They had their recreations, sports, 
and occasional outbreaks; and If we read aright, they 
resented impositions, one Instance occurring In Hale's 
day, when John Brown, of the class of 1771, afterwards 
a gallant officer of the Revolution, was one of the lead- 
ers In a revolt against the quality, It would seem, of 
college "commons," and left with others until grievances 
were redressed. A few years earlier they had denounced 
college governing methods and became at times insub- 
ordinate and riotous. At the proper moment, again, 
they were ready to put themselves on record on the trade 
Issues with the mother-country, as when the class that 
graduated as Hale entered voted almost unanimously 
to appear at their Commencement exercises "wholly 
dressed in the Manufactures of our own Country," giving 
early public notice "so that their Parents and Friends 
may have sufficient Time to be providing Homespun 
Cloaths for them, that none of them may be obliged to 
the hard Necessity of unfashionable Singularity, by 
wearing imported Cloth."" It was such action as this, 

1 Wolcott Memorial, p. 225. 

- Dexter, Yale Biographies, etc., Vol. Ill, p. 303. Dr. Stiles, who 
attended Commencement at Harvard in July, 1770, notes in his Diary 



HALE IN COLLEGE 25 

and what more preceded and followed, that, in after 
years, led the loyalist graduate, Judge Thomas Jones, of 
Long Island, to distinguish his Alma Mater as "a nursery 
of sedition, of faction, and republicanism." 

To Hale and his brother, college life must have been 
a constant enjoyment, and In view of their training it 
could have been no task for them to conform to the 
rules. By the fortunate preservation of three letters 
from their father — plain, homely missives, with the 
usual distorted spelling, but very uncommon as records 
and valuable to us just now for their tenderness, injunc- 
tions, and hard fact — we get a few glimpses of the boys 
in their new relations. Whether as Freshmen or Sopho- 
mores, they were addressed as "Dear Children," and 
reminded of their duties. They had written home on 
December 7, 1769, two months after entrance, that they 
were comfortably settled, and on the 26th their parent 
replies: "I hope you will carefully mind your studies that 
your time be not lost and that you will mind all the orders 
of Colledge with care." Above all, they were not to 
forget their devotions or chapel prayers. A year later, 
he wrote In the same vein, and added: "Shun all vice, 
especially card-playing." The common view of this 
diversion was still In harmony with the spirit of the regu- 
lations of 1745, under which play at cards, dice, or on a 
wager was subject to fine, to be followed on the third 
offense by expulsion. 

Students' expenses, then as now, were always pending 
as paternal joys or burdens, and the bills of the country 
boys w^ere settled Irregularly. Exchange and barter 
were much out of vogue in the larger towns, and the 
farmer could not pay for his son's tuition with the wheat 
in his barn. In their Freshman year, Deacon Hale tells 

that "The Bachelors all dressed in black cloth coats of american Manu- 
facture, covered with a thin, black Gown & Sq^. Cap." 



26 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

his children that he will send them some money soon, 
perhaps by "Mr. Sherman," when the latter returns from 
his circuit, and he inquires whether it would do to let 
their account run until he could go to town himself in 
May and clear it up. In the following year he hopes to 
forward what cash they need "when Sr, Strong comes 
to Coventry" — this being "Sir" Nathan Strong, their 
graduate cousin, then connected with the college in 
another capacity, before he became tutor/ At vacation 
times their own horses would be driven down for them, 
or they could hire some in New Haven. For the first 
two or three years, at least, like most Connecticut boys, 
they probably wore homespun clothes. Judging from 
the localities they came from, we should say that the 
majority of Hale's class wore them, Robinson, for one, 
as we know. Toward the end of their Sophomore year, 
one of the brothers was called to Coventry to be fitted 
to a suit, if he could obtain leave, and if they hoped to 
have new clothes for the coming Commencement. "I 
sopose," writes their father, to be spared the protest or 
ridicule with which the suggestion would be received by 
the modern Sophomore — "I sopose that one measure 
will do for both of you," The wealthier student, we 
are told, would dress more fashionably and appear on 
the Campus in "the finest coat" with "largest ruffles"; 
and it is probable, judging from a previous reference, 
that before the revenue troubles set in, suits made from 
"imported cloth" were a standing luxury the Seniors 
indulged in for Commencement display. The Hales and 
their fellows may have patriotically denied themselves 
this and followed the action of their predecessors of 

1 William Robinson, of Lebanon, Connecticut, classmate of Hale, kept 
an account of his college expenses for Sophomore, Junior, and Senior 
years, the total amounitng to £70. Life of fVilliam Robinson, by his 
son, Edward Robinson. 



HALE IN COLLEGE 27 

1769. In 1773, homespun should have been more fash- 
ionable than ever. 

That Hale made the most of his college course we 
may feel assured, for at the end he stood among the 
best scholars and most popular men of his class. During 
the first two years the curriculum required him to face 
some grinding study in the three learned tongues — Greek, 
Latin, and Hebrew — with logic, rhetoric, disputes, and 
geometry interspersed; while in the last two, more clas- 
sics, natural philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, meta- 
physics, and ethics completed the sum of his accomplish- 
ments. Saturday forenoons were devoted to the sub- 
ject of divinity.^ As to the Latin then heard in the 
classrooms, it may be interesting to note that Rev. Dr. 
Stiles, later President of Yale, wrote in 1768 that "our 
New England Pronunciation of Latin is according to the 
University of Cambridge in England & that of Dublin in 
Ireland 100 years ago" — the same pronunciation to con- 
tinue at Yale nearly another hundred years beyond Dr. 
Stiles' time, down to President Porter's incumbency, or 
about 1875. Not surprising that some students found 
parts of the routine irksome, and when Roger Alden 
afterwards wrote to Hale from his schoolroom that he 
dreaded its hours as much as ever he did "the morning 
prayer bell or Saturday noon recitations," his complaint 
was only a distant intimation of changes to come. The 

1 Speaking of the studies of the third year, a student wrote in 1767: 
"This week we begin Martin's Grammar, which we recite in the morn- 
ing, Tully at 11 o'clock, and the Greek Testament at 5 in the afternoon. 
On Mondays and Tuesdays we dispute and for Saturdays study we have 
Wollebius's Compend of Divinity in Latin (which books the President 
got at Boston for the Junior Class)." — Dexter's Yale Biographies, etc., 
Vol. Ill, p. 264. Hours at Home, 1870, p. 331. 

In the classrooms, Enoch Hale was known as Hale primus, and 
Nathan, Hale secundus, a practice long continued in some New England 
Latin grammar schools. 



28 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

prayer bell still rings, but not at half-past five in the 
morning in summer time or half-past six in winter, and 
divinity finds its special field in the theological school. 

Respecting tests or evidences of scholarship at that 
day, it appears that the head of the class was not called 
"valedictorian" — the distinction coming in at a later 
time — but a Commencement appointment was a pretty 
certain indication. Hale will be prominent there. The 
Berkeley Scholarship, a prize of long standing at the 
college, was awarded to the student who made the best 
showing in Greek and Latin at a competitive examina- 
tion. The fund enabled him to continue his studies as 
a resident scholar, or "Sir," after graduation. In Hale's 
class the successful competitor was Ezra Sampson. 
Whether the Hales took the examination does not 
appear. Tallmadge states in his "Memoir" that his own 
excellent preparation in the classics would have war- 
ranted the attempt on his part, but the measles troubled 
him in his Junior and Senior years and his studying was 
of a light order. It may have been so with the 
Hales, who had been similarly affected. But that Nathan 
stood among the highest in all-around attainments, the 
classics especially, is well known. 

The modern critic of the Yale training of that time 
would notice the comparatively limited attention paid to 
English literature and the cultivation of style — an 
absence, as it were, of the literary atmosphere. Dr. 
Stiles apparently acknowledged this in his reference to 
the English oration he heard at the Commencement exer- 
cises of 1768. It was "a good Piece of Composition 
even for Language (in which however we Yalensians 
do not pretend to Excel) but especially for a judicious & 
learfied Review of Literature" — this literature, however, 
being that of the Greeks, the Augustan Age and Oriental 
antiquity. Of colonial models there were none, while 



HALE IN COLLEGE 29 

the seventeenth and eighteenth century mother-country 
productions met with Httle encouragement. One must 
look far to find mention of Shakespeare in Hale's day. 
The art of easy and cultivated essay and letter writing 
was still in its unfinished stage, as many of the published 
specimens show. The correspondence in the Appendix 
of this work bears out the criticism, but it can hardly be 
taken as a fair example, for, with due indulgence, we 
have to recall that it is the correspondence of young 
people, written often in haste and almost the whole of 
it devoted to the current news and rumors of war times, 
with youthful sentiment interspersed. Its value lies in 
another direction — in the sidelights it throws on the sub- 
ject of the biography. Hale's letters, generally plain 
and sedate, represent the average work of the better 
trained college student or good writer of the period. 
Probably his best specimens have not been preserved. 
Where he writes with some care, his punctuation, or 
"pointing," his infrequent capitalization of common 
words, and the general appearance of his handwriting 
and manuscript bring his efforts noticeably nearer to 
the modern form. 

With Tutor Dwight's connection with the college some 
attempt at reform in this direction appears to have been 
made. Joining with other instructors, he exerted his 
influence in raising the standard of culture, especially in 
composition, criticism, and oratory, and was himself then 
preparing a possible literary model in his well-known epic 
poem, the "Conquest of Canaan." Hale and his class- 
mate, Tallmadge, seem to have caught the new spirit, 
for we find them corresponding in their Junior or Senior 
year and criticizing each other's effusions. It was a side 
course of their own. One letter in the series — one of 
Tallmadge's — has come to light, and it may suffice. We 
can imagine him in after life, a correspondent of Wash- 



30 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Ington and member of Congress, writing and speaking 
ably and gracefully, wholly repudiating the ambitious 
efforts of his college days. But we would not be with- 
out it, and can only regret the disappearance of Hale's 
replies. Writing from some quiet room — off the Campus, 
we may infer — he begins: "Friendly Sir, In my delight- 
some retirement from the fruitless Bustle of the noisy, 
with my usual Delight, &, perhaps, with more than com- 
mon attentiQn, I perused your Epistle — Replete as it was 
with sentiments worthy to be contemplated, let me assure 
you with the strongest confidence of an affectionate Friend, 
that with nothing was my Pleasure so greatly heightened, 
as with your curious remarks upon my preceeding Per- 
formance, which, so far from carrying the appearance of 
a censuring Critick's empty amusement, seemed to me to 
be wholly the result of unspoted regard & (as I may 
say) fraternal Esteem." The rest will be found in the 
Appendix, but Tallmadge goes on with a laborious de- 
fense of some term of friendship he had applied in his 
preceding letter and then tells Hale that his whole object 
in engaging in this friendly correspondence was "to 
obtain advantage myself & to be contributory, as much 
as I am able to your improvement." The two friends 
kept on writing to each other after graduation, and once, 
at least, Tallmadge attempted a piece of rhyme, to which 
Hale replied in kind, as his first offense, though not his 
last. Whatever Tallmadge's muse inspired him to say, 
Hale evidently made a neat turn upon him: 

Whene'er with friends I correspond, 
I seek for food of which they're fond. 
But if my best's of meaner kind, 
I strive to dress it to their mind. 
F'or this I leave my wonted course, 
With you, and seek for aid from verse. 



HALE IN COLLEGE 31 

As a literary diversion, the students established debat- 
ing societies. Two, well known to Yale graduates, sur- 
vived — "Linonia," founded in 1753, and "The Brothers 
in Unity," in 1768. After more than a century's exist- 
ence, both have been dissolved. Former alumni, distin- 
guished at the bar, in Congress or in the pulpit, owed 
something of their rhetorical training to these societies. 
The Hales belonged to Linonia and took an active inter- 
est in its exercises, Nathan especially. In his Junior year, 
1771, he became its secretary or "scribe," and its book 
of well-kept minutes is still preserved in the university 
library. That the members improved and enjoyed them- 
selves the entries fully bear out. Their proceedings on 
different evenings included debates, narrations, addresses, 
dialogues, and a system of mutual questions and answers. 
To better their conversation and literary style, they would 
criticize each other's grammar and choice of words. On 
one occasion they debated the question whether it was 
right to enslave the African. Nathan's name frequently 
appears among the speakers, as on December 23, 1771, 
when another member had succeeded him as scribe, "The 
meeting was opened with a very entertaining narration by 
Hale 2d"; or again, the meeting of August 5, 1772, 
"closed with a speech delivered by Hale 2d." It was 
before Linonia that Hale delivered the address printed 
in the Appendix. He was then near the close of his 
third or Junior year, and the occasion was the departure 
of a number of the "Sirs," for whom Sir Billings deliv- 
ered the valedictory. Hale replied, voicing the Society's 
regret and sorrow. His effort is full of sentiment, but 
its expression and style would hardly be followed by a 
modern Junior. "That the gentlemen," he said, "who 
have now taken their leave were very much beloved by 
us, our inward emotions, as well as countenances, do very 
strongly testify. They have been rendered dear to us, 



32 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

not only by a long and intimate acquaintance, but by 
the strictest bonds of unity and friendship. ... As 
our patrons, we have shared their utmost care & vigi- 
lance in supporting Linonia's cause, & protecting her from 
the malice of her insulting foes." His reference here is 
probably to the newly formed rival society of the "Broth- 
ers in Unity," to which some of his friends, like Tall- 
madge, Wyllys, and others, belonged. "As our bene- 
factors," he continues, "we have partaken of their liber- 
ality, not only in their rich & valuable donations to our 
library, but, what is still more, their amiable company 
and conversation." And again: "Receive kind Sirs as a 
very poor return our sincere thanks for your numberless 
kindnesses. Be assur'd that we shall be spirited in Lino- 
nia's cause & with steadiness & resolution strive to make 
her shine with unparalleled lustre. And although Plu- 
tonia should make use of every sordid and low-lived 
scheme, to raise herself & rival our fame, rely upon it 
that we shall exert ourselves in the use of all proper 
means to humble her pride & reduce her to nothing. 
And you may firmly believe, we will do our best to render 
ourselves worthy our illustrious Ancestors . . . Dear 
Gentlemen farewell!" 

Appreciative of "the gaities of life," these college boys 
had their diversions. With no public stage to patronize, 
they worked up a mild form of one for themselves. Such 
amusement they were bound to have, and the dramatic 
art came into high favor. These embryo teachers, min- 
isters, warriors, and statesmen could at intervals forget 
"the great Design" of learning and entertain themselves 
and their friends in their societies with such plays as the 
"Conscious Lovers," the "West Indian," the "Toy 
Shop," and the "Beaux' Stratagem." In the two latter, 
presented in Linonia, Hale took a part with eclat, while 
in the cast of the first were included no less a trio than 



HALE IN COLLEGE 33 

"Sirs" Dwight, Davenport, and Williams. The "West 
Indian" was announced as a new comedy to be played on 
the occasion of Linonia's twentieth anniversary, April 
3, 1773, at the house of Mr. Thomas Atwater. The 
entertainment was a pronounced success. "Both the 
scenery and action," says the secretary, "were on all 
hands allowed to be superior to anything of the kind 
heretofore exhibited on the like occasion. The whole 
received peculiar beauty from the officers appearing 
dressed in regimentals and the actresses in full and ele- 
gant suits of lady's apparel. The last scene was no 
sooner closed than the company testified their satisfac- 
tion by the clapping of hands. . . . An epilogue made 
expressly on the occasion and delivered by Hale 2d was 
received with approbation." There was also a musical 
dialogue sung by two members "in the characters of 
Damon and Clora."^ Something of the same sort was 
presented on "Quarter Days," when examinations were 
held and bills paid. These functions closed more joy- 
ously with an exhibition. Quoting Dr. Stiles again, he 
tells us that on one such Quarter occasion, in 1779, they 
had a dramatic representation of the invasion of the 
Tories and Indians on the Susquehanna, led by the blood- 
thirsty Colonel Butler. Student Pixley, says the worthy 
President, acted the Indian warrior "inimitably."^ 

1 Ebenezer Fitch, class of 1777, subsequently first President of Wil- 
liams College, has this to say in his diary about the exhibition plays in 
his graduating year: "March 17. At one o'clock walked in procession 
to the chapel, and at two began to act the tragedy before the largest and 
most splendid audience that we ever before had at anniversary. After 
the tragedy was concluded, the comedy, called the West Indian, was 
acted to the great entertainment of the audience, and was deservedly 
applauded. I was never more agreeably entertained. Every character 
was remarkably well sustained. After the exhibition, the procession 
returned as it came." 

2 Princeton students seem to have had similar diversions. An early 
instance is noticed when the graduating class gave an entertainment at 



34 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

And finally — Commencement Day. For Hale's class 
this fell on September 3, 1773. It was the annual grand 
occasion both for college and the town, when dignitaries 
of the Colony and the lights of its churches, together 
with numerous citizens, assembled in the meeting-house 
on the New Haven green to listen to the graduation exer- 
cises. An all-day function, it was continued as such to 
recent years, though losing its varied character. A 
report of it appears in The Connecticut Journal and New 
Haven Post Boy, now one of the rarest of colonial news- 
papers. In the forenoon the salutatory address was 
delivered by John Palsgrave Wyllys, of Hartford, who, 
like Hale, early entered into the Revolutionary War and 
after fourteen years of service fell in action with the 
Indians on the western frontier. A "syllogistic dispu- 
tation" followed, and then came a forensic debate by 
Messrs. Beckwith, Fairchild, Flint, and Mead on the 
question, "Whether a large metropolis would be of pub- 
lic advantage to the Colony." Messrs. Alden, Keyes, 
and Marvin — all three to become Revolutionary offi- 
cers — rendered a dialogue in English on the three learned 
professions, and Sir Williams delivered an English ora- 
tion on Prejudice. In the afternoon Sir Davenport 
resumed the exercises with an English oration on the 
state of the private schools in Connecticut. Another 
syllogistic dispute — this one in Latin — followed, and the 
Commencement closed with what was evidently the treat 
of the day — a second forensic debate by Messrs. Hale, 
Robinson, Sampson, and Tallmadge on the then perti- 

the close of the Commencement exercises at Nassau Hall, September 29, 
1762. They presented the "Military Glory of Great-Britain," a drama 
extolling the victories of the French and Indian War and the names of 
Wolfe, Amherst, and others. "Long may George the regal sceptre sway" 
is the key-note. The drama was printed by William Bradford, Phila- 
delphia. 



HALE IN COLLEGE 35 

nent question, "Whether the Education of Daughters be 
not, without any just reason, more neglected than that 
of sons." Quite possibly, as some writers state. Hale took 
the side of the daughters, with whom we know him to 
have been a general favorite. We assume that the day 
closed with the usual Commencement dinner. For this 
feast in 1769, the steward, Mr. Fitch, was directed to 
keep in his hands £20-12-2. 

As our young graduate now goes out into the world 
after a successful course in college, carrying with him all 
the honors and good wishes he could desire, he is much 
less a stranger to us than he would have been without 
this experience. We shall come to know him better dur- 
ing the next three years, but here at graduation, at the 
close of a most important formative period, we get our 
first and fixed impressions. It is the youth himself whom 
we would wish to see and understand. To what has 
already been said we may add the indirect light reflected 
through his personal friendships — the intimacies of 
"bright college days." They meant much then, as now. 
From expressions and hints in letters he received, we 
should say that he was counted as one of their best 
friends by such men as Alden, Marvin, Mead, Robinson, 
Sampson, Selden, Tallmadge, Williams, and Wyllys — 
all worth knowing in after life. What Sampson wrote to 
Robinson years later, in 18 17, they doubtless could all 
have written to each other: "Between us two there was 
in our juvenile days, the closest intimacy. . . . Believe 
me. Dear Sir, in thought I am now and then walking with 
you in the suburbs of old Yale just as we used to walk 
together." In thought the modern student may walk 
with them and with Hale and the rest over much of the 
same familiar ground, to the great Rocks, to the shores 
and over bypaths into the country and its woods. Five 
letters in his correspondence — two from Robinson and 



36 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

three from Tallmadge — written in college or soon after 
graduation, are alone worth much in their avowal of 
spontaneous, youthful good feeling and affection. Rob- 
inson, while teaching, regrets he cannot enjoy Hale's 
company with that of "some other special friends," and 
later he refers to their intimate acquaintance, calls him 
"Dear Nathan," and again misses his society. In his two 
college letters, Tallmadge signs himself "Damon," and 
hopes that his correspondence with Hale may never end. 
"I remain your constant friend," he writes, — my thoughts 
come from "a heart ever devoted to your welfare." The 
same regard and warmth are shown by others. "Tell 
yourself that no one loves you more than Roger Alden," 
and Marvin to the same effect. We prize nothing more 
than Tutor Dwight's moving and devoted remembrance 
of Hale in his "Conquest of Canaan," so often quoted. 
But before that we now have a letter of his, February 20, 
1776, hinting at his young friend's intellectual bent and 
qualities of heart. Dwight was preparing to publish his 
epic and knew Hale well enough to ask his kind assist- 
ance in mentioning it to his acquaintances. "To a per- 
son of Mr. Hale's character," he wrote him, "motives 
of friendship apart, one's fondness for the liberal arts 
would be a sufficient excuse for calling his attention to 
the work" ; and he adds, "I esteem myself happy in 
reflecting that the person who may confer this obligation 
is a gentleman, of whose politeness and benevolence I 
have already experienced so frequent and so undoubted 
assurances." That Hale was held in deserved esteem by 
his fellows is further evidenced by the fact that he was 
one of the chancellors or presidents of Linonia from his 
class. In later years, and doubtless it was so then, this 
was regarded as among the highest of college honors in 
the gift of the students. There was confidence in his 
abilities, methods, and judgment. We have to bear in 



HALE IN COLLEGE 37 

mind, also, that, in general, these young men, as Pro- 
fessor Dexter has noticed, were "responsive to the 
appeals of conscience." Hale's nature, we must believe, 
was strong in its obedience to such appeals, and his col- 
lege associations had not weakened it. A sense of duty 
governed him to the end. At the end, as we know, he 
was profoundly true to it. 

Not long after his death some one of his contempo- 
raries in New Haven, an acquaintance and probably 
college companion, remembered him with a eulogy in 
which, with due allowance for the poetic feeling and 
license in the case, we doubtless have a more or less faith- 
ful picture or impression of Hale. He is handed down to 
us by his Alma Mater, we may say, as a most attractive 
and superior fellow, a son of whose acquirements within 
her walls she was proud, and for whom an enviable future 
might be predicted. 

Erect and tall, his well-proportioned frame, 

Vigorous and active, as electric flame ; 

His manly limbs had symmetry and grace. 

And innate goodness marked his beauteous face; 

His fancy lively, and his genius great, 

His solid judgment shone in grave debate; 

For erudition far beyond his years; 

At Yale distinguished above all his peers; 

Speak, ye who knew him while a pupil there. 

His numerous virtues to the world declare; 

His blameless carriage and his modest air, 

Above the vain parade and idle show 

Which mark the coxcomb and the empty beau; 

Removed from envy, malice, pride, and strife. 

He walked through goodness as he walked through life ; 

A kinder brother nature never knew, 

A child more duteous or a friend more true.'^ 

1 The above is an extract from a long poem first published in the 
American Historical Magazine in 1836. The author prefaced it with 



38 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Recollections bear out this description. Those who knew 
him, and others who gathered details and traditions as 
early as 1835, tell us that he was a noticeably fine-look- 
ing youth, nearly six feet in height, of rather slender build, 
ruddy In complexion, with expressive features, a musical 
voice, and a presence that was at once natural and com- 
manding. Stories are told of his athletic skill. A happy 
manner, generous disposition, and social aptitude graced 
the stronger side of his character. He was evidently 
mature for his years and, though not yet twenty, was 
about to enter active life with much of a man's equipment. 
Among his New Haven friends, Hale found an appre- 
ciative one in Dr. ^neas Munson, a well-known physi- 
cian of the place. In 1836, his son, also Dr. ^neas 
Munson, a young surgeon's mate in the Revolution, long 
remembered by old residents, wrote to the magazine 
referred to above: "Nathan Hale I was acquainted with 
from his frequent visits to my father's house, while 
an academical student. His own remarks and the 
remarks of my father left at that period an indeli- 

a letter written in 1784, at New Haven, in which he says he was per- 
sonally acquainted with Hale, entertained a high opinion of him, and 
wrote the poem soon after his death. His own emotions and impulse to 
remember his friend are expressed in these lines: 

Shall haughty Britons in heroic lays, 

And tuneful numbers, chant their Andre's praise; 

And shall Columbia — where blest freedom reigns 

With gentle sway, to bless her happy plains, — 

Where friendship, truth, and simple manners shine, 

And noblest Science lifts her head divine; — 

Shall she forget a son's — a patriot's name, 

A hero's glory, and a martyr's fame? 

And shall not one, of all her tuneful choir. 

Whose bosom glows with true poetic fire, 

Attempt to sing that dear departed youth, 

Who fell a victim in the Cause of truth? 

Rous'd by the thought, a friend presumes, thus late, 

Lov'd Hale, thy life and death to celebrate. 



HALE IN COLLEGE 39 

ble impression on my mind." On one of these occa- 
sions, as Hale was leaving the house, the elder Mun- 
son observed: "That man is a diamond of the first 
water, calculated to excel in any station he assumes. 
He is a gentleman and a scholar, and last, though 
not least of his qualifications, a Christian." And by 
way of appeal to the editor, the younger doctor adds, 
before any memorials to their friend were erected: 
"Cannot you rouse the dormant energies of an ungrate- 
ful republic, in the case of Captain Hale, to mark the 
spot where so much virtue and patriotism moulder with 
his native dust?" 



Ill 



HALE AS SCHOOLMASTER— AT EAST -HADDAM 
AND NEW LONDON— HIS ENGAGEMENT 



Upon graduation, or In the early fall of 1773, Nathan 
visited his uncle, Samuel Hale, at Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire, This was his father's brother, already 
mentioned, a graduate of Harvard College, who was 
the well-known head of the leading school in that Colony, 
and was addressed as "Major," on account of his rank 
and services at Cape Breton and the Siege of Loulsburg. 
What Hale had to say of this trip and his own affairs 
appears in the Interesting letter he afterwards wrote to 
his uncle, which Is given In full In another connection. 
The visit was long remembered by his Portsmouth rela- 
tives, who frequently spoke of his pleasing appearance 
and accomplishments. One of them, his cousin William 
Hale, afterwards member of Congress from New Hamp- 
shire, wrote in later life that he perfectly recollected the 
anguish experienced by his father and elder sisters when 
the account of Nathan's death was received.^ 

Returning to Connecticut, Hale followed his uncle's 
lines and became schoolmaster. This was the usual step 
before entering upon a calling. Professional depart- 
ments and labyrinthine postgraduate courses. In which the 
"Sirs" could continue their studies to an advanced point, 
were yet to be evolved as the crown of the higher edu- 
cation. About the most dignified position to which a 

1 Letter in Connecticut Historical Society; printed in Stuart, 2d ed., 
p. 261. 



HALE AS SCHOOLMASTER 41 

graduate teacher of that day could aspire was a tutorship 
at the college, and there places were few, far from lucra- 
tive, and not permanent. The pedagogue's desk was 
generally looked upon then, as for many generations 
afterwards, as a temporary makeshift. 

For the time being there were schools enough for the 
newly fledged graduates. In that same year, 1773, 
Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, in reply to inquir- 
ies from one of the home government's Secretaries of 
State, reported that the Colony taxes amounted annually 
to about six thousand pounds, "somewhat more than 
one third part" of which — a good proportion — was 
raised by the several towns for the support of their 
schools. The old laws on the books required every town 
or ecclesiastical society with seventy families to maintain 
a good, centrally located schoolhouse and a schoolmaster 
for "Teaching and instructing youth in Reading writing 
and arithmatic at least eleven months in each year," or 
six months where the societies were smaller. These 
were the public parish or "district" schools, managed 
through the machinery of the churches and town com- 
mittees, and which children of all ages could attend. 
Another type, also provided for by an early law, was 
the higher or "grammar school," which each of the four 
county towns of Hartford, New Haven, New London, 
and Fairfield was required to keep up — the designation 
"grammar" having come down through the colonists 
from the long-established schools of the same name in 
old England, supported there by the guilds or by private 
funds and bequests or royal patronage or, in some 
instances, by town and municipal rates. It was the 
teaching of grammar, whether Latin or English, as an 
advanced study, and the preparation offered in some 
of them for college entrance, that gave these schools 



42 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

their distinguishing name, which in our case was long 
continued in about the same sense by the Latin schools 
of Boston and other places, and clings to-day to the 
quite old "Hopkins Grammar School" at New Haven. 
Still another type of the later colonial period was the 
private school or academy then gradually coming into 
favor. In one of these, opened by Daniel Humphrey, in 
Connecticut, in 1776, emphasis was to be laid on the 
English classics and the pupils trained "to write their 
mother tongue with Eloquence." A similar school on 
Long Island offered its boarders the advantage of being 
taught geography in the winter evenings "with many 
other useful particulars that frequently occur to the 
teacher." 

Hale and some of his classmates were not long in 
finding situations. For himself he accepted one at East 
Haddam, on the Connecticut River, sixteen miles from 
its mouth. His brother Enoch settled down near Wind- 
sor, east of the river; Robinson, .close by, at Windsor; 
Alden and Samuel Dwight, at New Haven; Marvin, at 
Norwich. Tallmadge had already, shortly before grad- 
uation, succeeded David Humphreys, of the class of 
1 77 1 and subsequently aid to Washington, as head of 
the private academy or "High School," at Wethersfield. 
Hale's school — a comparatively small one — was the prin- 
cipal "district" school in the town, with the schoolhouse 
near the present "Landing" and the eastern terminal of 
the new bridge. The house has passed into the hands 
of a patriotic society and been moved to a sightly spot 
on the river bank above. East Haddam was also known 
by the contracted Indian name of Moodus, which now 
attaches to the growing village -north of it. Hale calls 
it "East Haddam (alias Modus)." His term here being 
a comparatively short one of four or five months, dating 



HALE AS SCHOOLMASTER 43 

from October or November, 1773, to the middle of 
March, 1774, we know little of this, his first experience. 
His pupils were of the same grades as elsewhere, from 
primary children to young persons of nearly his own age, 
and all learning or improving upon "the three R's" and 
other subjects in which the teacher might choose to inter- 
est them. Within the schoolroom it was not an uncom- 
mon arrangement to have the scholars seated on long 
benches fronting flat desks fastened in the walls. School 
books were rarities then, Dilworth's or some other 
author's spelling lessons, an arithmetic and the Psalter 
being about the only ones in general use in the country 
districts. Blackboards and globes were almost unknown. 
Noah Webster tells us that before the Revolution all 
writing exercises and operations in arithmetic were 
worked out on paper. The teacher wrote the "copies" 
and, where there were no books in hand, read off the 
"sums." Frequently the entire school studied aloud; 
and thus, with other primitive methods and simple exer- 
cises, the early required education was instilled. East 
Haddam's families, we must believe, sent some preco- 
cious children to Hale, but it would have been hard to find 
the equal of Alvan Peake, the young prodigy among the 
sixty pupils in the school of the first society at Wood- 
stock, Connecticut, who, we are told in one of the public 
prints, "did every sum in Fenning's Arithmetic, from 
Reduction, to the end, before he was twelve Years of 
Age; and said the Primer through, from the Beginning 
to the End, and never mist a Word." This was pub- 
lished, inclusive of the teacher's spelling, "for the encour- 
agement of children and youth in Learning." Hale may 
have had no youngster like Alvan, but more than one of 
his boys is doubtless pictured to the life in Trumbull's 
"Progress of Dulness" : 



44 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

There's not a lad in town so bright, 
He'll cipher bravely, write and read, 
And say his catechism and creed. 
And scorns to hesitate or falter 
In Primer, Spelling-book or Psalter. 

We may be confident, however, that in his humorous 
description of the average district pedagogue, Trumbull 
could not have had anyone in mind with Hale's training 
and qualifications: 

He tries, with ease and unconcern, 
To teach what ne'er himself could learn, 
Gives law and punishment alone. 
Judge, jury, bailiff, all in one. 
Holds all good learning must depend 
Upon the rod's extremest end.^ 

Although East Haddam was a town with agricultural 
and shipping interests and good society. Hale seems to 
have found it an isolated place, and this may account in 
part for his brief stay there. Missing old friends, he 
was, nevertheless, certain to make new ones; and he 
could say no more of his agreeable situation at New 
London afterwards than that it was "somewhat prefer- 
able" to that at East Haddam. Mail facilities were 
irregular in winter, and his acquaintances appear to have 
heard from him but seldom. His classmate Robinson 
runs him pleasantly on his disappearance thus: "I am 
at a loss to determine whether you are yet in this land 
of the living, or removed to some far distant and to us 
unknown region; but this much I am certain of, that if you 

^ Trumbull's description applied to many of the district schoolmas- 
ters — poor pay accounting for their mediocrity. In some towns, Coventry 
included at one time, parents sent their children to school intermittently, 
which led persons interested in the Colony's educational system to peti- 
tion the Assembly in May, 1774, to investigate and reform matters. 
Hale was then teaching at New London. 



HALE AS SCHOOLMASTER 45 

departed this life at Modus, you stood but a narrow 
chance for gaining a better." Stuart gives the recollec- 
tion of one old lady who went to Hale's school in this 
river town. "Everybody loved him," she said; "he was 
so sprightly, intelligent and kind, and withal so hand- 
some."^ 

Hale had not been teaching many weeks at East Had- 
dam before he sought or was invited to a more promising 
post. "I love my employment," he was to write a year 
later; and if a strong liking for it had already developed, 
with an intuitive sense that he was born to the work, a 
field with larger prospects would be his ambition. Early 
in December we find him corresponding with Mr. Tim- 
othy Green, of New London, one of the proprietors of 
the "Union School" at that place, respecting his engage- 
ment as master for the spring term of the following year. 
Hearing of this opportunity, Hale evidently interested 
his old pastor. Rev. Mr. Huntington, in his application, 
and secured from him the necessary letter of recom- 
mendation, on the receipt of which Mr. Green wrote to 
him, December 21: "I have shewed Mr. Huntington's 
Letter and sample of your writing enclosed in it to sev- 
eral of the Proprietors of the School in this Town, who 
have desired me to inform you that there is a Probability 
of their agreeing with you to keep the School; and for 
that Reason desire that you would not engage your self 
elsewhere till you hear further from them."^ 

1 While at East Haddam Hale appears to have lived in the family 
of Mr. James Green, whose house was known as the "Smith's Arms." 
Several of the children were Hale's pupils. Mr. Green was subsequently 
a Captain of Connecticut Dragoons and served at White Plains and 
Saratoga. The author is indebted to Mr. Richard Henry Greene, of New 
York, for the information. He adds: "I have the only chair in existence 
that Hale is known to have sat upon; it was in the sitting room of 
Captain James Green's house." 

2 The letter from Mr. Huntington, here referred to, we miss from 
the Hale correspondence. It would have told us something worth having 



46 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

The sample of handwriting referred to was the sine 
qua non and passport to position required of the young 
schoolmasters of the period, and in the nature of the 
case was usually superior to their ordinary chirography. 
The few letters we have from Hale compare very fav- 
orably in appearance with those of his correspondents, 
and that he could set a "copy" which his pupils would be 
proud to equal may be seen in his call for a school meet- 
ing, February 22, 1775, and especially in the signature 
of his letter to his classmate Mead — amusingly affected, 
no doubt — which still stands at the bottom of the page 
with the precise regularity and shading of an engraved 
hand. This accomplishment helped to tell in Hale's 
favor, though he was not to have the school immediately. 
The proprietors, needing a teacher at once, employed 
Phineas Tracy, of Norwich, for three months, at the 

about the young man the good pastor helped to educate — what was 
thought of him, for one thing, at the close of his college career. 

How an application to teach was regarded by responsible persons 
at that period may be seen in the following letter from President Stiles 
(in the author's possession) in reply to a note from General Greene, who 
was interested in a school at Coventry, Rhode Island: 

Yale College Apr. 24 1784. 
Dear Sir 

Ever since I received your Letter I have taken much pains 
to procure a Preceptor suitable for your School at Coventry, 
but without Success. I might send you a choice of indifferent 
characters; but of this I should be ashamed: And the offers 
of Coventry do not induce the young Gentlemen this way, 
of a merit equal to your Wishes. You have been happy in 
the ingenious Mr. Rogers: I wish you to obtain one to 
succeed him who may keep up the Reputation to which he 
hath advanced that school. 

Your kinsman the Governors Son with us is in Health & 
is an Honor to the College. Mrs. Stiles unites me in 
Respects to yourself and Lady. I am Dr Sir 

Your most obedt Servt 

Ezra Stiles 
Gen Greene 



HALE AS SCHOOLMASTER 47 

same time holding out encouragement to our East Had- 
dam candidate, who, at Mr. Green's suggestion, had 
ridden over to New London and seen him personally in 
the matter. On February 4, Mr. Green again requested 
him to wait, this time for "one week more," before 
accepting any other place; and on the loth he formally 
notified him of his engagement for one quarter, at the 
rate of two hundred and twenty dollars per annum. 

The Union School at New London, of which Hale now 
took charge, "about the middle of March," 17745 when 
Tracy's term closed, was a private enterprise started 
some years before, but not yet incorporated. The school 
may have been modeled upon the older and quite famous 
academy at Lebanon, Connecticut, which Master Nathan 
Tisdale, a graduate of Harvard College, had been long 
and successfully conducting. The proprietors of the 
latter included twelve well-to-do residents of the town, 
with Governor Trumbull as one of their number, who 
wished to give their own children, and such others as 
might join them, the advantages of a select and superior 
schooling. In their agreement we read that "A Latin 
scholar is to be computed at 35s., old tenor, for each 
quarter, and a reading scholar at 30s. for each quarter — 
each one to pay according to the number of children that 
he sends, and the learning they are improved upon, 
whether the learned tongues, reading and history, or 
reading and English only." Master Tisdale's school was 
liberally patronized, but in one respect it would not have 
appealed to the modern youth. The artist Trumbull, 
who attended it, tells us that it offered no vacations, "in 
the long idleness and dissipations of which the labors of 
preceding months might be half forgotten." 

The New London School closed its doors in 1833, 
after an apparently successful course of sixty or seventy 
years, and after it is said to have become something of 



48 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

a rival of the much older public ox "Free Grammar 
School" of New London, one of the four already referred 
to, dating back to about 1700. That was the higher 
school of the town, conducted by John Owen, another 
graduate, who reigned supreme on the "throne" of his 
classroom over his one hundred pupils — the average 
attendance — for nearly forty years/ With "Master" 
Owen and "Master" Hale teaching and disciplining the 
young people of New London, the town may have 
regarded itself as open to congratulation. 

Here was an opportunity for a young schoolmaster 
to set a new enterprise more firmly on its feet, and Hale 
succeeded. In their petition for incorporation, the pro- 
prietors of the Union Academy state that they "have 
at great cost erected a school-house for the advancement 
of learning," and hired and paid teachers, and they were 
anxious to get the right man for master and retain him. 
Not six months had elapsed before they were offering 
Hale increased wages and a permanent position. The 
school was incorporated on October 4, 1774, and it is 
through Hale's call for a later meeting of its proprietors, 
printed among his letters, that we have, for the first 
time, a complete list of their names. ^ There were twenty- 
four in all, representing the wealth and intelligence of 
New London — the Saltonstalls, Winthrops, Laws, Mum- 
fords, Coits, Shaws, Richards, Greens, and others locally 
well known. Their children probably formed the body 
of the school, and Hale found his time fully occupied in 
their instruction. We know something about it from 

1 Records and Papers of the New London County Historical Society, 
Vol. II, pp. 115-144. 

- In the original petition, October 1, 1774, the names of thirteen 
memorialists appear with "others." Hale fills out the list. — College and 
Schools, Vol. I, p. 35. Archives Connecticut State Library. 



HALE AS SCHOOLMASTER 49 

his own pen. On September 24, 1774, he wrote to his 
uncle at Portsmouth: 

New London, Conn. Sept 24*11, 1774 

Respected Uncle: 

My visit to Portsmouth last fall served only to 
increase the nearness of your family and make [me] the 
more desirous of seeing them again. But this is a happi- 
ness which at present I have but little prospect of enjoy- 
ing. The most I now hope for is that I may now and 
then have the satisfaction to hear from my Uncle and 
Cousins by letter. 

I can tell you but little of my father or his family, 
being situated about 30 miles from them. I have not 
visited them for near three months, but have heard from 
them somewhat indirectly within a few days. I under- 
stand they are well. My eldest sister (Elizabeth) was 
married last winter (as you have doubtless heard) to 
Sam^ Rose, son of Docf Rose, and has, as I suppose, a 
prospect of a very comfortable living. As to any further 
particulars of my Father or his Family, I can mention 
nothing. My own employment is at present the same 
that you spent your days in. I have a school of 32 boys, 
about half Latin, the rest English. The salary allowed 
me is 70£ per annum. In addition to this, I have kept 
during the summer, a morning school, between the 
hours of five and seven, of about 20 young ladies; for 
which I have received 6s. a scholar by the quarter. The 
people with whom I live are free and generous, many of 
them gentlemen of sense and merit. They are desirous 
that I would continue and settle in the school ; and pro- 
pose a considerable increase of wages. I am much at a 
loss whether to accept their proposals. Your advice in 
the matter coming from an Uncle, and from a man who 
has spent his life in the business, would, I think, be the 
best I could possibly receive. A few lines on this sub- 
ject, and also to acquaint me with the welfare of your 



50 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

family, if your leisure will permit, will be much to the 
satisfaction of 

Your most dutiful Nephew, 

Nathan Hale. 

P. S. — Please to present my duty to my Aunt, and my 
fondest regards to all my cousins. If no other oppor- 
tunity of writing presents, please to improve that of 
the Post. — [Addressed "To Maj"" Samuel Hale at 
Portsmouth."]^ 

To his classmate Mead, then studying theology at 
New Haven, Hale gives a few of the same facts, and to 
Dr. Munson, at the same place, he wrote two months 
later: "I am happily situated here. I love my employ- 
ment; find many friends among strangers; have time for 
scientific study, and seem to fill the place assigned me 
with satisfaction." What Hale meant by scientific study 
was general reading, a sort of culture course apart from 
theology or law, and in pursuing It he seems to have had 
a small library of his own to draw upon. Such works 
as Pope's "Iliad" and the "History of the Seven Years' 
War," In five volumes, were to be sent him, his brother 
Enoch writes, from "among the books" at his home. 

Hale's occupation was clearly congenial to him, as it 
seems not to have been to his classmate Alden, who dis- 
liked being confined to particular hours, or have his 
morning reading Interrupted by the discovery that It was 
"just fifty-nine minutes after eight o'clock." The philo- 
sophical Robinson found that teaching deprived him of 
the pleasure of many agreeable rides he had counted on 
taking about the country, and, as he writes to Hale, pre- 
vented him from enjoying "the company of yourself with 
some other special friends." Marvin, who. certainly 

1 From the original MS. in possession of Mr. Grenville Kane, 
Tuxedo, New York. Here printed complete. Stuart gives the body of 
the letter. 



HALE AS SCHOOLMASTER 51 

found entertainment enough on "Quarter Day" of his 
school, April 8, 1774, wrote later that with him "teach- 
ing, scolding and floging, is the continual round. . . . 
In short, I have come to be one of your fretting, teasing 
pedagogues," but the war had opened and his thoughts 
were turning to the cause and the field. Tallmadge, at 
Wethersfield, seems to have had one of the choice posi- 
tions. "Perhaps, in no Place," he writes, "is there more 
distinction with regard to Company. The Pedagogues 
of this place, have the Honour to be admitted into the 
Number of those who are of the first Rank. In such 
Company we have not only the advantages of friendly 
Intercourse, Jollity, & Mirth; but it may also be rendered 
very useful and instructive." In addition, as his pupils 
varied from seventy to ninety in number, he was to have 
"a colleague of the fair sex." 

Of the impression Hale made as a teacher some recol- 
lections remain. A few of his old pupils were living in 
1840 or later. His tact and amiability, his control over 
boys, without severity of manner, and his universal popu- 
larity could be recalled, says Stuart, by the venerable 
Samuel Green, of Hartford. Among the elderly people 
at New London, Mrs. Elizabeth Poole tells us that she 
was "an inmate of the same family with the deeply 
lamented Capt. Hale" while he taught school. Her 
impressions, written out, by request, in 1837, appear to 
have been the basis of the happy pen picture of" Hale 
drawn by Mr. J. S. Babcock in a pamphlet published in 
1844. In her brief contribution, Mrs. Poole says of 
him: "His capacity as a teacher, and the mildness of his 
mode of instruction, was highly appreciated by parents 
& pupils; his appearance manners & temper secured the 
purest affection of those to whom he was known. As a 
companion in the social, particularly in the domestic 
circle, his simple, unostentatious manner of imparting 



52 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

right views & feelings to less cultivated understandings 
was unsurpassed by any individual who then or since has 
fallen under my observation. He was peculiarly free 
from the shadow of guile ! his remarkably expressive 
features were an index of the mind and heart that every 
new emotion lighted with a brilliancy perceptable to even 
common observers." In the few lines that follow she 
speaks of his frank and open mind and a soul that would 
disdain deception and disguise even where personal safety 
might be at stake. Serious-minded herself, the venerable 
lady seems to have recalled only his serious side.^ Miss 
Caulkins, who gathered local recollections about 1850, 
says in her "History of New London" : "Those who 
knew Captain Hale have described him as a man of many 
agreeable qualities: frank and independent in his bearing; 
social, animated, ardent; a lover of the society of ladies, 
and a favorite among them. Many a fair cheek was wet 
with bitter tears, and gentle voices uttered deep execra- 
tions on his barbarous foes, when tidings of his untimely 
fate were received. As a teacher Captain Hale is said 
to have been a firm disciplinarian, but happy in his mode 
of conveying instruction, and highly respected by his 
pupils. The parting scene made a strong impression on 
their minds. He addressed them in a style almost par- 
ental; gave them earnest counsel, prayed with them, and 
shaking each by the hand, bade them individually fare- 
well." A letter from one of his young boys, Robert 

1 Mr. W. W. Saltonstall, of New London, wrote March 1, 1837, to 
Mr. Cyrus P. Bradley at Hanover, New Hampshire, who was collecting 
Hale material: "The above is a communication from my aged friend 
Mrs. Elizabeth Pool which I believe expresses the opinions entertained 
here of Capt. Hale's character by all those who knew him, but whose 
advanced age and infirmities prevent their attesting so clearly his 
worth." — From MSS. in Connecticut Historical Society. 

The form of one of Hale's School bills — tuition of Winthrop Salton- 
stall's son — is given in the Appendix, p. 191. 



HALE AS SCHOOLMASTER 53 

s 

Latimer, written to Hale while he was in camp, has been 
preserved: "I think myself under the greatest obliga- 
tions to you for your care and kindness to me . . . 
Though I have been so happy as to be favored with your 
instructions, you can't, Sir, expect a finished letter from 
one who has as yet practised but very little this way, 
especially with persons of your nice discernment"; and 
he adds with the unconscious humor of his years, "I am 
sure, was my Mammy willing, I think I should prefer 
being with you to all the pleasures which the company of 
my relations can afford me." 

At New London, Hale made many good friends. The 
families of the school proprietors alone would form a 
large and agreeable circle. With one of them, Mr. 
Richards, he appears to have made his home.^ In Gil- 
bert Saltonstall, a young graduate of Harvard, son of 
Colonel Gurdon Saltonstall, one of the more prominent 
residents of the place, he found a kindred spirit. In 
addition to the social circles in which he would naturally 
move, Hale met a new element here, which was to prove 
important to him when the war broke out. New London 
was a port of entry, and among its residents were ship- 
builders, shipmasters, importers, and whalers, some of 
them rough-and-ready men, full of adventure, and not 
a few of whom, including four or five of the proprietors 

1 In his letter to Hale, July 4, 1775, Tallmadge, at Wethersfield, 
states that he was informed "by your good Landlord" of Hale's 
appointment in the army. The letter was sent to Hale "per Mr. Rich- 
ards," returning to New London, who apparently was the person who 
gave the information. When Hale was at home "on leave" from camp in 
January, 1776, he went down to New London and settled a few accounts 
with Mr. Richards. Among other items he received from him some 
tuition money due Hale from one of his scholars and deposited with 
Richards. The two references together point to the latter as Hale's 
"good landlord." We infer that this was John Richards and not 
"Captain" G. Richards. 



54 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

referred to, were to do good service during the Revolu- 
tion as owners and captains of privateers. A few were 
to become officers or soldiers under him, and some of 
their letters show that they were as appreciative of his 
open character and talents as he was responsive to their 
own rugged and honest natures. His experience in this 
town must have been valuable to him in more ways than 
one. It broadened his range of observation and matured 
capacities in which others would be called upon to confide. 
His last schoolhouse still stands as a memorial of his 
happy associations with the place. Like the one at East 
Haddam, it has been restored, removed to a new site, 
and intrusted to the care of a patriotic society, to be used 
as a library and depository of colonial and Revolutionary 
relics. 

Hale reengaged to remain where he was until the mid- 
dle of July, 1775. His subsequent course would be deter- 
mined by circumstances. He might continue with the 
Union Academy and succeed to Tisdale's or his own 
uncle's reputation as a notable New England school- 
master; or, like Nathan Strong, Timothy Dwight, and 
his classmate William Robinson, he might be invited to 
become a tutor at Yale and under its influences conclude 
to enter the ministry. The tradition has been noticed 
that this was his mother's hope and wish. Two of 
Nathan's brothers, Enoch and David, became preachers, 
and developed a natural fitness for their profession, the 
former filling out a pastorate of more than fifty years 
at Westhampton, Massachusetts. Professor Dexter says 
of him, that "no finer example can be found of the genuine 
parish minister of what was long the established church 
of Massachusetts . . . Besides his services as pastor, 
in which he was eminently faithful, he gave much atten- 
tion to the educational interests of the community, and 
himself for many years fitted pupils for college. He par- 



HALE'S ENGAGEMENT 55 

ticipated in all the public interests, being, for instance, 
the representative of the town in the State Constitutional 
Convention of 1820. Though not possessed of brilliant 
talents, he was remarkable for thorough conscientious- 
ness, and for orderliness, punctuality, and exactness in 
all the habits of daily life, and his influence on the com- 
munity was strong and lasting, remaining as a sacred 
memory even to this generation,"^ David Hale, who 
graduated in 1785, continued in the ministry not more 
than twelve or fourteen years, his constitution obliging 
him, as stated, to return to the paternal farm in 
Coventry. He was remembered for his virtues and 
kindly disposition, and, like Nathan, as an excellent and 
popular teacher. We are finding in Hale's brief course 
that many of his brothers' stronger and more attractive 
qualities were innately his, and had he lived and joined 
them in the same field of work, success and distinction 
could have been anticipated for him. 

In this matter of future occupation, Hale's school- 
master experience appears to have left him in doubt, for 
in September, 1774, we find him seeking his uncle's advice 
regarding his acceptance of a permanent position as 
teacher; and as late as July, 1775, when he resigned his 
New London desk, he told the proprietors that he had 
grown fond of his work and had thought of devoting his 
life to it. Events decided his course for him. 

In closing with this period when Hale is just entering 
his twenty-first year, we may notice a bit of romance 
associated with his college and later days that has gath- 
ered into a chapter of courtship and engagement. It is 
the old story in one of its familiar phases — the story of a 
love interrupted and then renewed. We know that the 
handsome and affable youth made an impression in the 

1 Yale Biographies, etc., Vol. Ill, p. 482. 



S6 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

circle of his young lady friends, and, no doubt, was 
equally susceptible to their attractions. For Alice Adams, 
one of his early acquaintances, he seems to have formed 
a special attachment. This was at his native Coventry, 
but the traditions in the case do not appear to have clung 
around the old homestead. When Mr. Gilbert, of that 
place, made an effort, in 1835-36, to collect neighbor- 
hood recollections of Hale, he wrote that he could learn 
nothing of his "calculations in matrimony." This might 
cause some surprise, for Miss Adams, then Mrs. Law- 
rence, was still living at Hartford. It is through her 
descendants that the story comes down — the generally 
accepted version being based upon the fact that before 
Nathan appeared upon the scene, there already existed 
a double relationship between the Hales and the Adamses. 
On June 13, 1769, not quite three months before Hale 
entered college, his father. Deacon Richard Hale, mar- 
ried, for his second wife, Mrs. Abigail Adams, widow 
of Captain Samuel Adams, of the near-by town of Canter- 
bury, Presently two of the widow's daughters were intro- 
duced into the family, one of whom, Sarah, was married, 
December 19, 1771, to John Hale, Nathan's elder 
brother. The other was Alice, or Alicia, Adams, who, 
as the tradition begins, occasionally visited her mother in 
her new home, with the result that Deacon Hale insisted 
on her remaining with them permanently. This would 
be about the year 1770-71, when Alice was in her fifteenth 
year and Nathan a Sophomore at college. It was not 
long before both Nathan and his brother Enoch were 
strongly attracted to her — the fondness increasing during 
vacation days — with Nathan as the favored one. During 
term time he engaged in a correspondence with her, but 
this added flow of their affections was checked by the 
mother on account of their youth. That Deacon Hale 
objected to Alice as another daughter-in-law from the 



HALE'S ENGAGEMENT 57 

Adams side of the house, as once supposed, has been 
questioned, and we are told that, on the contrary, he 
favored the alhance. The young girl possessed many 
fine qualities, both of mind and heart, developing attrac- 
tively in after life, and Hale, we may well believe, 
already felt a lover's appreciation of them. Stuart, in 
fact, quotes him as referring to her afterwards as "a 
bright, particular star" he "thought to wed." Alice, 
however, though subsequently twice married, was not to 
bear the name of Hale. As the tradition continues, her 
mother and sister prevailed upon her to accept Mr, Elijah 
Ripley, of Coventry, a well-to-do and worthy neighbor, 
considerably older than herself.^ They were married 
February 8, 1773, when Nathan was about half way 
through his Senior year, and thus his student fancy, or 
courtship, whatever it may have been, passed into a 
memory or disappointment. 

This experience of youth, so often repeated, was fol- 
lowed by its not infrequent sequel. During the next two 
years, especially when he was at New London, Hale's 
circle of friends widened and extended into neighboring 
places. Marvin wrote him from Norwich that "the 
ladies are all in good spirits" and Saltonstall, after a 
trip to Lyme, where it would seem Hale occasionally 
visited, told him that the girls he met at a friend's or 
relative's house "expressed a regard for you which I 
thought but a few removes from love." These were 
light touches in otherwise matter-of-fact letters, but they 
give us glimpses of Hale among happy companions who 

1 The Connecticut Historical Society Library contains a pamphlet 
entitled, "A Father's Legacy to His Daughters — By the late Dr. Gregory 
of Edinburgh." — Boston, 1779. — At the head of the title-page is the auto- 
graph, "Alicia Ripley's Book." It was written "by a tender father in a 
declining state of health for the instruction of his daughters," and treats 
of religious duties, amusements, books, dress, friendships, love and 
marriage. 



58 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

understood his responsive heart. How far his alleged 
disappointment at college affected him we cannot say, but 
that he became interested somewhere in youthful fashion, 
and perhaps seriously, may be implied from allusions or 
hints from classmates. His two close friends, Robinson 
and Tallmadge, undoubtedly knew of Alice Adams, and 
of her charming ways and presence — one or both may 
have met her — but to whom did they refer when touching 
Hale on his tender side? Robinson ventured to say to 
him, on January 20, 1774: "My own school is not large; 
my neighbors are kind, and (summatim) my distance 
from a house on your side the river which contains an 
object worthy the esteem of every one, and, as I conclude, 
has yours In an especial manner, is not great." And six 
months later Tallmadge was curious enough to write, 
on a warm July 4, 1774: "Friend Hale: — How do you 
do this cold weather? I should be very glad to have 
some direct news from you, I do assure you; for by the 
last accounts, you were all over (head and heels) in 
love ... I have only time to subscribe myself your real 
friend &c." At these dates, Alice Adams had been mar- 
ried a year or more. She was Mrs. Ripley. These 
classmates may have just learned to their surprise that the 
studious Nathan had once been in love and was now 
expressing his former admiration for Alice or "regard" 
for some one else at that moment, and were sounding or 
jibing him after the manner of college chums. ^ 

The story concludes with the death of Mr. Ripley on 
December 26, 1774. Alice was left a widow with a young 

1 In the Memoir of Rev. William Robinson, p. 71, n., his biographer, 
noticing the same point, expresses the opinion that the "house on your 
side of the river," referred to above, was probably that of the Wolcotts 
at East Windsor, and that the young lady may have been Miss Naomi 
Wolcott, "with whom Hale was doubtless acquainted." This was a 
suggestion. The biographer could not believe that the Hale, or any 
other "house" at Coventry, was meant. 



HALE'S ENGAGEMENT 59 

child, named after its father. Hale was then with the 
Union School at New London. We might or might not 
expect to hear of the renewal of their affection, but it 
seems certain that it was renewed and that they became 
engaged some time during the following year, 1775, or 
early in 1776, while he was still teaching or after he 
joined the army. A heart-tribute, or "love poem," ad- 
dressed by Nathan to Alice, presumably about this period, 
and now published for the first time (in the Appendix), 
gives us a glimpse of the warmth and depth of his 
feelings : 

Alicia, born with every striking charm, 

T^ ^ «!? 7i? ^ 91? tJ? 

Fair in thy form, still fairer in thy mind, 

With beauty wisdom, sense with sweetness joined 

jli. ijt ifc Jjt ^ Jfc ^ 

Let others toil amidst the lofty air 
By fancy led through every cloud above 
Let empty follies build the castles there 
My thoughts are settled on the friend I love 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

The poem is without date, but one might fairly infer 
from the line, "Far from the seat of pleasure now I 
roam," that he was in camp.^ Marvin's letter of Febru- 
ary 26, 1776, closing in rhyme, contains the last refer- 
ence, in the Hale correspondence, to the betrothed couple. 
The meandering poet drops into a musing vein, comfort- 
ing "Nathan's other self" with the knightly vision that he 
would return a hero from the field of Mars: 

Her heart to ease, her mind to calm, 
He then pours in the friendly balm 
Of honor gain'd, of service done, 
A treasure which he'll sure bring home. 

^ This poem is given in full on pp. 190, 191. 



6o NATHAN HALE, 1776 

After a widowhood of about seven years, Alice mar- 
ried Mr. William Lawrence, son of a former treasurer 
of Connecticut, and survived at Hartford to the age of 
eighty-eight. She was remembered by persons living a 
few years ago as a sweet, intellectual woman — a char- 
acter that is stamped in the lines of her portrait, pre- 
served by descendants in Brooklyn, Long Island.^ An 
appreciative notice of her may be found in Stuart. 
One who knew her gave this recollection to the 
present writer in 1901 : "She was a smart, pretty, lovely 
lady in 1830, when I began to call on her. Many and 
many a time I talked with her about Nathan Hale. She, 
with tears in her eyes, told of his noble character and 
fine talents and personal appearance. . . . Happy as 
she was in her second marriage, she never forgot Nathan 
Hale." A copy of her portrait hangs in the Athenaeum 
collection at Hartford. 

1 The present possessor of the portrait is Mrs. C. Thurston Corey, of 
Brooklyn, great-granddaughter of Alice Adams. Further reference to 
the engagement traditions and mention of a Hale miniature and profile 
appear in Chapter VIII. 



IV 



THE LEXINGTON ALARM— HALE JOINS THE 

ARMY 

While Hale was teaching school the war opened. The 
19th of April, 1775, had the effect of a surprise. The 
phase of affairs had been regarded as critical, men felt 
that a struggle was upon them, but the actual hostilities, 
the firing of the first gun, stirred them all with a new 
and profound sensation. It was so in our Civil War. 
While the conflict with the mother-country had been 
openly predicted and anticipated, the sudden mustering 
of the farmers, the volleys along the roads and from 
behind the walls, the slaughter of the redcoats, the fall of 
neighbors, and the grief of families intensified their 
mingled forebodings and enthusiasm. Nothing had 
come so near to these people since the days when King 
Philip or the Pequots had threatened the homes of their 
grandfathers. The pitch of their emotions and patriot- 
ism is represented by this outburst in a letter of the day: 
"Oh my dear New England, hearest thou the alarm of 
war — the call of Heaven is to arms, to arms!" 

Connecticut as a near neighbor turned out to the assist- 
ance of Massachusetts and in a few days had four thou- 
sand men on the roads marching towards Boston. They 
dropped into their militia organizations or formed im- 
promptu companies and pushed on, in many cases without 
waiting for orders. In its records of the Revolutionary 
War, published by the State, the names of these volun- 
teers, with the days of their service, are classified by 



62 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

localities and together present the appearance of an 
honor-roll of the emergency. In the Coventry list may 
be seen the names of John and Joseph Hale, two of 
Nathan's brothers. 

The young schoolmaster watched the tendencies of 
the times with eager interest. In the second letter that 
we have from his pen, dated September 8, 1774, he 
writes that no liberty-pole had yet been erected in New 
London, "but the people seem much more spirited than 
they were before the alarm." This was an alarm caused 
within a few days by the report that the British ships 
were firing upon Boston and troops preparing to march 
upon the towns. Several thousand armed men in Massa- 
chusetts and Connecticut immediately headed for the 
threatened points. The reports proved false, but the 
colonists realized through this demonstration that the 
right spirit would prevail when reports proved true. 
Hale adds: "Parson Peters, of Hebron, I hear, has had 
a second visit paid him by the Sons of liberty in Wind- 
ham. His treatment and the concessions he made I have 
not yet heard." Hebron adjoined Coventry and the 
parson was the Rev. Samuel Peters, one of the few clergy- 
men in the Colony who threw their influence against the 
rising sentiment of the country. Finding the liberty-men 
too much in earnest to give them occasion for a third 
visit, he quickly left for England.^ 

1 It would have amused Hale, had he lived, to read the large tales 
Parson Peters subsequently gave out respecting his treatment at Hebron. 
In his application for a loyalists' pension in England in 1782, he repre- 
sented that he vyas taken up in 1774 by the liberty-men, and vyas "the 
first man they intended to kill." The Americans would have put him 
to death if he had stayed. "Mr. Peters attends again and says that 
after he was condemn'd to be hang'd he was carried under the Gallows 
& expected to be hang'd in 5 minutes — the tar & feathers were prepar- 
ing — some of his Neighbours came up at the moment & rescued him." — 
Loyalist Papers, N. Y. Public Library. "Temporary Support," etc.. Vol. 
II, pp. 266-267. No violence of this sort was threatened. The parson 



HALE JOINS THE ARMY 63 

From this date the movement grew rapidly. In Octo- 
ber, the lately assembled first Continental Congress took 
decisive action in favor of commercial non-intercourse 
with Great Britain as long as the tax measures were in 
force. Its stand was applauded and toasted by the 
patriotic element. A wider interchange and freer expres- 
sion of views followed. New London was one of the few 
Connecticut towns that could boast the luxury of a news- 
paper, and its weekly Gazette, like the others elsewhere, 
served as a pulse of opinion through the items it circu- 
lated. If Hale read it carefully, as no doubt he did, he 
saw that his friends and neighbors in Coventry held a 
legal town meeting on September 13, — Phineas Strong, 
moderator, — at which they expressed alarm at the 
gloomy aspect, but at the same time gratefully acknowl- 
edged "the favorable omens of Providence in that happy 
unity, propitious plenty, sympathetic charity, noble forti- 
tude and manly resistance to despotism, universal through- 
out America." He saw that at the recent Commence- 
ment at his college there was an English dialogue pre- 
sented on "The Right of America, and the unconstitu- 
tional measures of the British Parliament." Now and 
then there came some bugle blast which strengthened the 
nerves, as when "Cassius" wrote to the printer on Febru- 
ary 24, 1775: 

The question which for the last ten years has been agitated 
between Great Britain and the American Colonies is now shifted 
from the principle of right to that of power. . . . To this crisis, 
O Americans, our affairs are wrought up that the alternative, 
the serious alternative, is this — either submit and take the yoke 
upon )'ou or prepare, and that instantly, to resist in the same 
style in which you have hitherto professed to reason and to act. 
Long and laboured speeches and harangues, when the enemy are 

was the author of that edition of the "Blue Laws" of Connecticut which 
is famous for its fiction and diverting variations from the original. 



64 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

in sight, carry with them strong implication of cowardice. . . . 
Therefore, as it has been for some time sounded as our alarm- 
bell that we must unite or die — our motto being "United we 
stand, divided we fall" — so in one word let this be added. Resist 
and be free or submit and be slaves. Need men be urged to arm 
when the enemy is at the door? 

Immediately beneath this appears the report of a meet- 
ing in Fairfax County, Virginia, in favor of organiza- 
tion of companies and drilling for service, with the head- 
ing, "Colonel George Washington in the Chair." A 
month later the Gazette did not fail to publish Warren's 
oration on the anniversary of the Boston Massacre, with 
its many impassioned sentences, and also one of Chat- 
ham's friendly speeches. Independence was at that date 
something of a prohibited sentiment so far as Its public 
expression was concerned, but In private It was avowed, 
If not urged. In certain quarters; and when the New Lon- 
don paper found a pointed reference to It In the Boston 
Post, it seems to have been happy to quote It without 
assuming the responsibility of Its authorship. In effect 
the writer said that If England continued to spurn her 
colonies, the latter would be compelled by the great law 
of nature to rise In their might and, following the exam- 
ple of the united provinces of Holland, publish a mani- 
festo to the world, showing the necessity of dissolving 
their connection with a nation whose ministers were aim- 
ing at their ruin. With such a declaration they must also 
offer free trade to all and an asylum to the oppressed 
throughout the world. "This Is the dernier resort," con- 
tinued the writer, "and this, Americans, you can do, and 
this you must do, unless tyranny ceases to Invade your 
liberties." Samuel Adams thought so, too, and he had 
more than one disciple throughout the colonies. From 
what we know of Hale, he could heartily have said 
"Amen" to the sentiment. There was also a poet's corner 




Hale's Powderhorn, Camp Book a>,d BAbKi.r, !//:)-,( 



HALE JOINS THE ARMY 65 

in the Gazette in which the local muse was permitted at 
intervals to fan the flame. "Rule Britannia" was once 
as popular in America as in England, but now an Ameri- 
can version was attempted: 



To spread bright freedom's gende sway, 

Your isle too narrow for its bound, 
We traced wild ocean's trackless way 
And here a safe asylum found. 
Rule, Britannia, rule the waves, 
Bul rule us justly — not like slaves. 



Let us your sons by freedom warm'd. 

Your own example keep in view, 
'Gainst Tyranny be ever arm'd, 
Tho' we our Tyrant find — in you. 
Rule, Britannia, rule the waves. 
But never make your children slaves. 



To Hale such atmosphere must have proved a tonic, and 
we are the better prepared to accept the tradition which 
represents him as making a spirited speech at a public 
meeting held in New London on the reception of the news 
from Lexington. "Let us march immediately," he is 
reported to have said, "and never lay down our arms 
until we obtain our independence." The last word was 
cautiously in the air, but he may have boldly spoken it as 
the true issue of the war. This was obvious to every 
one who had watched events and understood the temper 
of the home administration. There was no half-way 
outcome. War meant complete independence for the 
colonies, or, in case of defeat, as then believed, a more 
irritating dependence on Great Britain. 



66 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Whatever Hale may have said at the meeting, it is 
hardly probable, as usually represented, that he bade 
farewell to his school on the following morning and 
marched as a volunteer with Captain Coit's company for 
Boston. Parts of four companies went from New Lon- 
don. His name does not appear on the official list of 
any of them, and from the tenor of his letter to the pro- 
prietors of the school, July 7 following, we gather that 
he had not been absent from it in April, He was under 
engagement for a year, and just before its expiration he 
requested as a special favor that they would release him 
two weeks in advance. Nothing, he says, could have 
persuaded him to ask for it but the fact that he had 
received a commission in the army, and that closing a 
fortnight earlier would probably not subject them to 
inconvenience. Had he marched on the alarm and been 
away as long as Coit's company, the school would have 
been broken up for the term. If the war was then open- 
ing in earnest, the systematic mustering of troops would 
be necessary and he could enter for permanent service in 
ample time a few weeks later. As it was, few college 
men were in the field before him. 

Connecticut made her first regular call for volunteers 
soon after the uprising of the 19th and organized six 
regiments, one from each county, to serve for seven 
months. As these troops were dispatched into fields out- 
side of the Colony, some to participate in the siege of 
Boston, others to invade Canada, the Assembly at an 
extra session in July organized two additional regi- 
ments for special home defense, to be known as the 
"Seventh" and "Eighth" and to sesve until about the ist 
of December. Long terms of service, winter quarters — 
anything suggestive of a regular army — would have been 
intolerable to the colonists at that date, and in conse- 
quence the country during the first two years suffered 



HALE JOINS THE ARMY 67 

from lack of discipline and cohesion in its defensive 
force. It was not until 1777 that a Continental army 
was enlisted to serve for "three years or during the war." 
On the other hand, the short terms of the earlier years 
were filled with a promptness that gave to the cause the 
needed momentum and appearance of energy. 

On the ist of July the Connecticut Assembly appointed, 
and on the 6th the Governor commissioned, the officers 
of the new "Seventh" regiment. Hale's name was on the 
list. He appeared as first lieutenant of the third, or 
major's, company. The appointment doubtless came 
about in the usuu! way. The Assembly, through com- 
mittees, made out the rosters from applications and rec- 
ommendations received from the deputies or leading 
men of the towns, with personal and social influence 
playing its usual part. The moment it was known that 
Hale had thoughts of entering the service, his New Lon- 
don friends, appreciating his fitness, would not hesitate 
to indorse him for an officer's position. "Having re- 
ceived information that a place is allotted me in the 
army, and being inclined, as I hope, for good reasons to 
accept it" — is all we have from Hale himself. It is quite 
possible that the major, Jonathan Latimer, who knew 
him well and whose son Robert was one of Hale's pupils, 
applied to have him appointed his lieutenant. The first 
lieutenants of the three field officers' companies were 
practically captains, as they had full charge of the men. 
The regiment was commanded by Colonel Charles Webb, 
of Stamford, and being intended for coast defense, it 
was recruited mainly from Greenwich, Stamford, Nor- 
walk, Milford, New Haven, Branford, Saybrook, Lyme, 
New London, Groton, and Stonington on the Sound. It 
contained, as Hale himself says, many skippers and sail- 
ors. The lieutenant-colonel's first lieutenant was William 
Hull, of Derby, one of Hale's college acquaintances 



68 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

whose friendship was to be strengthened in their camp 
associations. 

A new letter we have from Tallmadge comes in most 
interestingly at this point. He was then in his third year 
of school teaching at Wethersfield, and had just learned 
of Hale's appointment In the army. Returning from a 
flying trip to the Boston camp, and aroused by the war 
situation, he wrote to his classmate, July 4, what he 
thought of their common duty in the emergency. He is 
not quite certain as to the best advice to give. "I can't 
say," he writes, "that you will hesitate a moment In your 
own mind about accepting or refusing; but you have a 
matter of no trifling consideration which presents Itself 
for calm reflexion, mature deliberation & a wise con- 
clusion. . . . When I consider you as a Brother Peda- 
gogue, engaged in a calling, useful, honorable, & doubt- 
less to you very entertaining, it seems difficult to advise 
you to relinquish your business, & to leave so agreeable 
a circle of connections and friends. But when I consider 
you as acting in that capacity to the good acceptance of 
all concerned, & to your own applause, [and far be it 
from me to flatter a friend] the difficulty Is still greater. 
On the other hand when I consider our Country, a Land 
flowing as It were with milk & honey, holding open her 
arms, & demanding Assistance from all who can assist 
her in her sore distress, Methlnks a Christian's counsel 
must favour the latter. . . . Was I In your condition, 
notwithstanding the many, I had almost said Insuperable, 
objections against such a resolution, I think the more ex- 
tensive service would be my choice. Our holy Religion, 
the honour of our God, a glorious Country, & a happy 
constitution Is what we have to defend."^ 

This letter is valuable In the light of the times as 

1 See Appendix for the entire letter. 



HALE JOINS THE ARMY 69 

well as biographically. There Is a glimpse here of the 
views of educated and patriotic young men at the opening 
of the Revolution we do not often get. Hale accepted 
the "more extended service," and Tallmadge followed 
with other classmates in the following year. A few 
months later we shall have another still more valuable 
letter, in its bearing on events, from another young 
graduate. 

As he left his school to begin recruiting, Hale wrote 
to the proprietois his appreciative letter of July 7. 
"Good reasons," he assures them, take him into the army, 
"School keeping," he adds, "is a business of which I was 
always fond, but since my residence in this town, every- 
thing has conspired to render it more agreeable. I have 
thought much of never quitting it but with life, but at 
present there seems an opportunity of more extended 
public service. The kindness expressed to me by the 
people of the place, but especially the proprietors of the 
school, will always be very gratefully remembered." So 
the school bell gave way to the drum, and with commis- 
sion, blanks, and necessary funds in hand, Hale proceeded 
to fill up his company. 

During this interval, when he had occasion to ride 
about the country, it is supposed that he went to New 
Haven. If so, he must have imbibed some new enthusi- 
asm from his old associations. The day before the Lex- 
ington alarm reached that town, or on April 20, 1775, 
Hale's classmate, Ebenezer Williams, wrote to him: 

All public exercises and exhibitions are discontinued 
at college on account of the present melancholy aspect 
of our public affairs. Politics engross so much of the 
attention of people of all ages and denominations among 
us, that little else is heard or thought of. It would I 
suppose be nothing new to inform you that the best 
military company in the colony consists of the members 



70 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

of Yale College, who appear statedly under arms three 
times per day. Query. Do we not bid fair to be in time 
a martial people and a match for our enemies, when even 
students are so much engaged in the cause ?^ 

It was at Dr. Munson's at New Haven, as we are told, 
that, while speaking of the new field he was about to 
enter, Hale exclaimed with a youth's enthusiasm, "Dulce 
et decorum est pro patrid viori." The young captain now 
began recruiting men in and around New London, while 
his lieutenant and ensign, Belcher and Hilliard, went to 
work at Stonington. In this connection we have a brief 
but rare letter preserved, in which Belcher writes to Hale 
that by the 27th of July he had enrolled twenty-two men, 
whom he expected to increase to thirty, and inquires 
"what progress you have made in the enlisting way." 
The companies were all soon filled and took post at 
different points. Several were stationed at New Haven 
under the colonel, while the major and three companies 
went on with the fortifications at New London. The 
daily routine was drill, guard, and picket duty along the 
shore. Once, in August, the enemy's ships fired into 
Stonington and the major and his men — Hale with them, 
no doubt — hurried over to defend the place. The alarm 
subsided and they were soon ordered to another field. 

Washington had not been in command of the provin- 
cial army around Boston more than a month before he 
called for reinforcements. On September 8, he made a 
demand on Governor Trumbull for the two new Con- 

1 Hale, Nathan. Captain in the Revolutionary War. The martyr 
spy. Executed by the British. A. L. S. folio of E. Williams to Nathan 
Hale, dated New Haven, April 20, 1775, and indorsed in Hale's hand- 
luriting. Letter sold at auction in 1913. 

As to the college company and its acting as escort to Washington as 
he passed through New Haven, in June, 1775, see Yale in the Revolu- 
tion, p. 13. 



HALE JOINS THE ARMY 71 

necticut regiments, and about the 20th the companies 
were on the march. 

It is here that the preserved portions of Hale's army 
diary begin. Brief, abbreviated, hurriedly written, and 
intended only for personal reference, it is still a valu- 
able record — the only existing record, indeed, which 
gives the movements of his regiment. For biographi- 
cal purposes its value lies in the lively interest it 
shows him to have taken in his new duties as an officer 
and in the progreiJ of the war. From it we learn that 
from New London his part of the regiment marched to 
Providence and beyond through the Massachusetts towns 
of Rehoboth, Attleboro, Wrentham, Walpole, Dedham, 
and Roxbury, to Cambridge, headquarters of the Ameri- 
can force besieging the British in Boston. On arrival the 
Seventh was assigned to General Sullivan's brigade at 
Winter Hill, on the extreme left of the semicircular line 
of investment, not far from Medford. The other Con- 
necticut regiments were stationed on the right, at 
Roxbury. 

Five months had now passed since Lexington and Con- 
cord, and three since the battle of Bunker Hill. These 
opening successes had elated the country and seemed to 
foreshadow the final result. The gathering around 
Boston of the farmers and citizens in their ordinary 
clothes, and many of them with their own arms, marked 
the character of the first uprising. It was not, and never 
became, a well-appointed camp of soldiers so much as 
an extended muster of townsmen. These people were 
still appealing to their king to protect them against the 
legislation of their Parliament. They floated their pro- 
vincial or special regimental colors, but no common 
standard of disloyalty. Our schoolmaster of the Sev- 
enth Connecticut marched under a blue banner. Before 
long, with their protests and attitude unheeded, they 



^2 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

will run up the thirteen red and white stripes indicative 
of their colonial union and at a later day they will replace 
the British Jack with a cluster of stars, announcing them- 
selves through their completed flag as "a new constella- 
tion" among the nations. 



V 
IN CAMP NEAR BOSTON— BESIEGING THE ENEMY 

Here at Winter Hill, two miles on the direct road from 
the British at Charlestown Neck and Bunker Hill, Hale 
passed his first fear months with Washington's army. 
Apart from the gratification of being In his country's 
service, he found camp life more or less agreeable. He 
seems at one time or another to have visited nearly every 
part of the American lines, examined the forts and famil- 
iarized himself with the country about. The doings of 
the enemy, who at points were in plain sight, would of 
course be noted. "Considerable firing upon Roxbury 
side In the forenoon, and some P. M. No damage done 
as we hear" — Is his September 30 entry the morning 
after arrival In quarters. Some days later he rides several 
miles around to the right or Dorchester end of the line, 
to have a look at British Boston from that side. Now 
and again he commands the picket-guard on Ploughed 
Hill, In advance of Winter Hill, and hears the regulars 
at work with their pickaxes. "One of our centrles," he 
writes, "heard their grand rounds give the countersign 
which was Hamilton. — Returned to camp at sunrise." 
November 9, there was a general alarm sounded on the 
landing, at Lechmere's Point, of a body of redcoats who 
were out on a cattle raid. "Our works were immediately 
all manned," Is Hale's account, "and a detachment sent 
to receive them, who were obliged to wade through water 
nearly waist high. While the enemy were landing, we 
gave them a constant cannonade from Prospect Hill. 
Our party, having got on to the Point, marched in two 



T4 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

columns, one on each side of y^ hill, with a view to sur- 
round y^ enemy, but upon the first appearance of them, 
they made their boats as fast as possible." Opposite, on 
captured Bunker Hill, a handsome young English officer, 
Captain William Evelyn, was sending home similar bits 
of news. "Remember poor me," he wrote to his father 
In October, "three thousand miles off, lodging upon the 
cold ground, and now and then ducking at the whistling 
of a twenty-four pounder, one of which came a few days 
ago into our camp, went through one of our tents and 
fairly took the crown out of one of the King's Own 
Grenadiers' hats. His head was not in it." Not long 
after. Hale had something of the same sort to note: 
"Went to Cobble Hill. A shell and a shot from Bunker 
Hill. The shell breaking in the air, one piece fell and 
touched a man's hat, but did no harm." This was mild 
warfare, but all good training for those earliest soldiers 
of 1775. Scenes more real and sobering were to come. 
A year later both the youthful captains, here face to face 
at the front, will meet their fate on another field within 
a few weeks of each other. 

Hale found time to write letters home and to friends 
and scattered classmates. Once he attempted poetry, in 
spite of his admission to Tallmadge that "feet and 
rhyme" were not his forte. As a simple piece of descrip- 
tive verse, he may have intended it solely for the eyes 
of some of his young scholars in New London, for in one 
of the lines he is addressing more than one person, but 
as it comes to light now, after a century of obscurity, we 
may value the realism in its simplicity. He tells of his 
surroundings — and the sketch or picture is there: 



Could you but take a full survey, 
On this & that & t'other way, 



IN CAMP NEAR BOSTON 7S 

You'd see extended far and wide 
Our Camps both here & Roxbury side. 
The hills with tents their whiteness show 
Resembling much Mid winter's snow. 
( For some such cause perhaps the same, 
Our hill is known by winter's name.) 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

When coming here from Watertown, 
Soon after ent'ring Cambridge ground, 
You Si 7 the grand & pleasant seat, 
Possess'd by Washin[g]ton the great. 

An interesting reference In the last line — the Impression 
made by Washington on his soldiers at this early date 
when he had not been In command three months and had 
come a comparative stranger among them. It Is hardly 
poetic courtesy that Hale Indulges In, as the letters and 
expressions of others bear him out. Passing on, the 
"domes" of fair Harvard attract him: 

In former times as I am told, 
This splendid place was College called 
The muses here did once reside, 
And with the ancient muses vy'd. 
E'en shaming Greek and Roman pride. 

But now, so changed is the scene. 
You'd scarce believe these things had been. 
Instead of sons of Science sons of Mars 
And nothing's heard but sound of Wars. 

But now it gives me joy to hear 
That when her ruin seem'd so near, 
From danger having swiftly fled ; 
At Concord she erects her head. 



7d NATHAN HALE, 1776 

The siege of Boston presented no thrilling or desperate 
episodes. On the part of the Americans it was mainly 
a blockade of the roads running out of the town, with an 
attempt to crowd the enemy at given points. The lack 
of powder prevented a continued and concentrated bom- 
bardment of Boston, while the British believed their own 
force to be insufficient to break up the siege and seemed 
to dread the repetition of such stone-wall fighting as the 
minute-men of April 19 had indulged in. As the winter 
drew on, both armies kept more closely to their lines 
and contented themselves with irregular cannonading. 
From the nature of the position, attack and sortie were 
seldom attempted. In the mean time. Captain Hale was 
perfecting himself in a soldier's and officer's duties. He 
drilled his company, looked after clothes, provisions, pay, 
and equipments, and mastered the minute directions for 
guards and pickets. Resolutiori and activity marked his 
daily routine. "Studied the method of forming a regi- 
ment for a review, of arraying the companies, also of 
marching round the reviewing officer. A man ought 
never to lose a moment's time. If he put off a thing 
from one minute to the next his reluctance is but 
increased." And again: "Complaint of the bad condition 
of the lower picquet by Major Cutler, It is of the 
utmost importance that an officer should be anxious to 
know his duty, but of greater that he should carefully 
perform what-he does know. The present irregular state 
of the army is owing to a capital neglect in both of these," 
His leisure hours, too, were often pleasantly spent. With 
the freedom and familiarity permitted in the provincial 
forces, where in many cases men and officers had been 
friends and neighbors at home, we find him dining twice 
at General Putnam's, visiting Generals Lee, Greene, 
Spencer, and Sullivan, and sharing in entertainments. On 
these occasions Hull was frequently his companion. They 



IN CAMP NEAR BOSTON 77 

were both promoted to be captains, or more properly 
captains-lieutenant, during this fall — Hale on September 
I — but were not allowed a full captain's pay until the 
reorganization to be noticed. At times Hale joined in 
camp diversions, played football and checkers, watched 
wrestling matches — evening prayers, he tells us, being 
omitted on the occasion when Winter Hill was "stumped" 
by Prospect Hill — read what books he could pick up, 
went to hear the several chaplains preach, drank a bottle 
of wine at Brown's, cider at Stone's, wrote to father, 
brothers, friends, and pupils, and — what is significant of 
his faith and temperament — throughout his diary or in 
his letters never entered a despondent line or reflection. 
It is true that in his polite note of October 19 to Betsey 
Christophers at New London, he implies that camp 
scenes had lost their first fascination for him. As we 
would expect, however, he tells her: "Not that I am dis- 
contented — so far from it, that in the present situation of 
things I would not accept a furlough were it offered me." 
In his Connecticut circles Hale was not forgotten. 
Among his New London acquaintances, Gilbert Salton- 
stall, already referred to, kept him informed of all mat- 
ters of interest, and to Hale's care in preserving his 
letters we are indebted for additions of some value to 
local history. Hearing from the captain that he was at 
Winter Hill, Saltonstall replied: "I see you are stationed 
in the mouth of danger. I look upon your situation as 
more perilous than any other in camp." In reply to some- 
thing Hale must have written him about entering the 
service, he says: "I wholly agree with you in y^ agree- 
ables of a camp life and should have tryed it in some 
capacity or other before now, could my father carry on 
his business without me. I proposed going with Dudley 
[his brother] who is appointed to command a twenty- 
Gun ship in the Continental Navy, but my father is not 



78 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

willing, and I can't persuade myself to leave him in the 
eve of life against his consent." An opportunity offered 
later. In a postscript he adds: "The young girls, B. 
Coit, S. and P. Belden [Hale's pupils] have frequently 
desired their Compliments to Master, but I've never 
thought of mentioning it till now. You must write some- 
thing in your next by way of P. S. that I may shew it 
them." He sends Hale the war news from different 
points, addresses him as "Esteemed Friend" and hopes he 
will continue writing him from camp. His letters in the 
Appendix only add to the regret that Hale's answers, and 
his replies to others, have not come to light. John 
Hallam wrote October 9 : "I received your two letters by 
Capt. Packwood and the post — am extremely glad you 
bore travelling & arrived at the camp so well. . . . 
Mrs. Hallam, Betsey & the rest of the family's compli- 
ments to you." Young Thomas W. Fosdick applied for 
a position in the army, "under you in particular" — a wish 
that was to be gratified in the following year. Among 
his classmates, Elihu Marvin, at Norwich, took Hale to 
task for not remembering him : "Three months at Cam- 
bridge and not one line — Well, I can't help it; if a Cap- 
tain's commission has all this effect, what will happen 
when it is turned into a Colonel's. . . . Polly hears of 
one and another at New London who have letters from 
Mr. Hale, but none comes to me, Polly says." Roger 
Alden, at New Haven, also thought he was neglected, 
but explained with a sententious touch: "The cares, per- 
plexities and fatigues of your office are matters sufficient 
to vindicate your conduct, and the duty which you owe 
your honor and the interest of your country is sufficient 
to employ your whole time and to justify you in dispensing 
with the obligations of your old friends and acquaint- 
ances." In a livelier and more interested vein he con- 
tinued: "I almost envy you your circumstances — ^I want 



IN CAMP NEAR BOSTON 79 

to be in the army very much; I feel myself fit to relish 
the noise of guns, trumpets, blunderbuss and thunder, 
and was I qualified for a berth and of influence sufficient 
to procure one, I would accept it with all my heart. . . . 
After you have thought over all this tell yourself that no 
one loves you more than Roger Alden," 

With the approach of winter the enlistment of a new 
army engrossed the attention of Congress and camp. 
The terms of most of the troops would expire in Decem- 
ber, and the danger was foreseen that during that and 
the following month the investment might be seriously 
weakened. Washington's anxiety in the case is expressed 
in his letters of that date. To meet the emergency it was 
determined to recruit new regiments, as far as possible 
from the old ones in camp, to serve through the year 
1776. This was known as the new establishment, and 
Connecticut's quota was to be five battalions. Colonel 
Webb and all his captains, including Hale, reentered the 
service, first for the emergency until January i, and then 
for the following year. The nucleus of their regiment 
thus remained, and they proceeded to fill up its com- 
panies. In the new army for 1776 it was designated as 
the "Nineteenth Foot in the service of the United Colo- 
nies," otherwise in the army of the English colonies on 
the Continent of North America, and hence the "Con- 
tinental" army. 

Hale refers to this reorganization, and we find him 
cooperating heart and soul in the work. To tide over 
December, the men were urged by oflicers of all grades, 
including Generals Lee and Sullivan, to remain a few 
weeks longer, and the militia were called out to fill the 
gaps. In a single sentence in Hale's diary we may read 
how earnestly he put the case before his own company: 
"Promised the men if they would tarry another month 
they should have my wages for that time" — an offer that 



8o NATHAN HALE. 1776 

might spontaneously come from one who was ready to 
give his life at a more serious turn of affairs. Many 
soldiers volunteered to remain, and the siege was main- 
tained. One army was disappearing and another organ- 
izing in the face and with the knowledge of the enemy. 
Hale's term in the old Seventh expired December 6, and 
on the loth he was mustered out; but under the new 
arrangement he continued his duties without interrup- 
tion. He reenlisted men for his new company, who were 
given furloughs for a few weeks, while his lieutenant and 
ensign went back to Connecticut to recruit more. In the 
brief "cash" entries he kept and cancelled in the same 
little book containing his army diary, we notice pay- 
ments made to four soldiers as early as November, "in 
consequence," as each one says, "of my inlisting in the 
Continental service for another year." One of them, 
Lemuel Maynard, his drummer, received "i pr. Deer- 
skin breeches and 32 shillings." It took time to accom- 
plish the business in the winter season, and it was well 
into January before the second army took shape. From 
New London, John Hallam wrote to Hale, December 
10, that in view of the large demands for men, recruit- 
ing for his command went on slowly. Captain Dudley 
Saltonstall was beating up sailors for his Continental 
frigate, and privateers were fitting out, whose prospects 
of adventure and profits were more attractive than ser- 
vice on land. It will be noticed that Hale commiserates 
Betsey Christophers on the social outlook for the winter, 
there would be so few gentlemen in town. 

During these army changes, Washington permitted 
officers and men to visit their homes, and Hale took his 
turn with the rest. On the 23d of December, first 
brushing up with a small outlay for "Dress^. Hat" and 
"dress^. hair," he left camp for a month's leave and 
reached his father's house at Coventry on the 26th. Of 



IN CAMP NEAR BOSTON 8i 

this visit we learn almost nothing from his diary, in which 
a break occurs from the 29th until his return to Winter 
Hill, and we will leave him at the firesides of those he 
loved, hardly one of whom was he to see again. His 
accounts, however, show that he spent part of the time 
at other places, looking after personal matters and 
enlistments. On January i, as we infer, he was at Wind- 
ham; the next day at Norwich, having his watch and 
buckles repaired; the following day, in New London once 
more, where some old dues for "Louisa fox's school^" 
were paid him, and where he stayed two or three days 
longer, settling accounts, one entry reading, "Maj. Lati- 
mer Cr By cash (my wages) 25. 10. 5. — By do (soldiers 
wages) 32. 2. 7." On the 8th he was back at home; on 
the 1 6th, pays "Sister Rose" for six pairs of mittens and 
one of stockings; on other days he buys cloth and buttons 
for half-boots, and a black Barcelona handkerchief, pays 
"Miss Ma'^'^. Gove" for making shirts, and has some 
small accounts with his brothers John and Joseph. About 
the 20th another trip to Norwich, this time, perhaps, 
"walking down street" with classmate Marvin and talk- 
ing about the town's Light Infantry Company, as Marvin 
writes on February 26; then on the 24th, the day he 
leaves for camp again, the entry shows him fairly well 
fitted out: "To Making & mending clothes o. 14-0, Mr. 
Lane." 

When at New London, Hale missed his ensign. Hurl- 
but, who had returned to camp and written him on the 
28th: "I Joined our Company Last Sunday and found 
them all in Good Spirits. I was very much Disappointed 
in not seeing you Hear. I am now a Going to set out 
for Bunker Hill [on picket] But I shant Go with so much 
Pleasure as if you was to Be with me." On January 4, 
he is in happier mood: "Sir I hope the next Time I see 
you, it will be in Boston, a Drinking a glass of wine with 



82 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

me. If we can but have a Bridge we shall make a Push 
to Try our Brave Courage." 

On January 27 Hale was back in camp with recruits, 
to find that his regiment was one of the largest among 
the twenty-six which formed the new force, and that in 
the reorganization it was brigaded with three other 
Connecticut regiments under General Spencer and trans- 
ferred to the right wing at Roxbury. His own company, 
for 1776, was made up largely of new men. Its roll, 
as it stood in June of that year, has been published from 
his own papers in the Collections of the Connecticut His- 
torical Society. Writing to his brother Enoch, on the 3d, 
he says of It: "My company which at first was small. Is 
now increased to eighty, and there is a Sergeant recruit- 
ing, who, I hope, has got the other 10 which compleats 
the Company."^ 

Presently the military situation changed. Finding 
themselves locked in at Boston, unable to utilize either 
their army or their navy effectively, the British deter- 
mined to abandon the contracted base for a wider field. 
They proposed to make New York the center of opera- 
tions in 1776, and with powerful reinforcements control 
the line of the Hudson and thus isolate New England, 
with its large population and resources, from the other 
colonies. From that vantage-point the rebellion was to 
be quelled north and south. Washington and his officers 
fathomed the enemy's Intentions, and In January, Gen- 
eral Lee was dispatched to New York City to forestall 
Lord Howe and put the place In a state of defense. On 
March 17, 1776, came the first step In the change of base. 
The British evacuated Boston and sailed away to Hali- 
fax — an event that was hailed with the greatest satls- 

1 Many of the soldiers' pay or "wages" receipts, as drawn up by Hale, 
are in the possession of Mr. George E. Hoadley, of Hartford. The last 
one is dated August 31, 1776, the day after the retreat from Long Island. 



IN CAMP NEAR BOSTON 83 

faction throughout the country as a significant American 
triumph. Among other officers Colonel Jedediah Hunt- 
ington, at the Roxbury Camp, was made very happy over 
it and at once, on the same day, sent his congratulations to 
his brother Andrew, at Norwich. "Never was Joy 
painted in higher Colours," he writes, "than in the Faces 
of the Selectmen of Boston & other of the Inhabitants of 
that distressed Town when we first had an Interview this 
forenoon — I have been in several Parts of the Town — 
there seems to be much mischief done out of mere Wan- 
tonness — saw several Holes where the Cannon shot from 
our Lines at Roxbury had passed — two 13 Inch shells 
from Cobble Hill fell just over Mr. Sherburnes House a 
little above King's Chappie — I just step'd into Mr. Han- 
cocks to see what Damage he had suffered expecting to 
see every Thing laid waste but found it much otherwise — 
all his good Furniture Family Pictures &c are preserved 
& but little Hurt done to the House or Gardens . . , 
where the enemy will get another such Foothold I know 
not — my Love to Sister — congratulate you on this Ac- 
quisition — the oppressed Town is once more freed of its 
cruel masters. . . . "^ Of course Hale was happy as 
the rest after his many weeks of outpost service at the 
front. 

Washington immediately began the transfer of the 
main portion of his army to the threatened quarter. 

Just as the military field was thus widening, the vital 
political issue of the hour was looming larger. It was 
a propitious moment for the spread of the sentiment of 
independence, and it spread rapidly now during the spring 
of 1776. The appearance of Thomas Paine's pamphlet, 
"Common Sense," with its strong reasons and stirring 
words in favor of the step, largely explained this wave 

^ From the MS. letter, Archives Connecticut Historical Society. 



84 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

of public Interest, although there was still caution and 
reserve. Paine was read widely, with occasional press 
comment. The papers seemed to be more eager to call 
attention to the extended sale of the pamphlet than to 
quote from its pages. "Eight editions," said the New Lon- 
don Gazette on March i, had already within a few weeks 
been printed in the different Colonies — one of them from 
the press of the Gazette itself — and by way of spirited 
indorsement it republished this extract from a Maryland 
paper: "If you know the author of COMMON SENSE 
tell him he has done wonders and worked miracles, made 
Tories WHIGS and washed Blackamores white. He has 
made a great number of converts here. His stile is plain 
and nervous; his facts are true; his reasoning just and 
conclusive. . . . Some time past the idea [of separation] 
would have struck us with horror; I now see no alterna- 
tive ; it is SERVIRE AUT DISJUNGE. Can any virtu- 
ous and brave American hesitate one moment in the 
choice?" 

The movement gathered and opinion became more out- 
spoken. The Hartford Courant, for April 8, said 
briefly but unmistakably: "A favorite toast in the best 
companies, is, 'May the INDEPENDENT principles of 
COMMON SENSE be confirmed throughout the United 
Colonies.' " Connecticut, officially through her Assem- 
bly, was an early advocate of separation, but of open 
individual discussion and "fanning of the flame" there 
was less than one might look for, and it is in connection 
with this fact that we insert here in full a letter on the sub- 
ject from Hale's good friend Robinson. It is a new, 
hitherto unpublished contribution, and in view of its 
relation to the public question of the day, as well as of 
the expressions of the writer's high personal regard, it 
may be ranked as the most important piece of the Hale 
correspondence: 



IN CAMP NEAR BOSTON S5 

Robinson to Hale, on the Question of Independence 

New Haven Feby W^, 1776 
Dear Sir 

I dare say you will readily allow that from my pres- 
ent studies & my future designs in Life I may claim a 
right to an equal share with the Soldier in those tender 
feelings of Friendship which in yours of the 9*^ Inst, 
you justly observe "oi ght to be his distinguishing char- 
acteristic" & that I may with equal propriety "converse 
with my Friends without flattery & write to them with- 
out apology" — That I have ever since the commence- 
ment of our intimate acquaintance convers'd with you 
in this way you are yourself my witness & that I shall 
still continue the same in my Letters you will need no 
further proof than you at this instant hold in your hand. 

You are pleas'd with your conditions & companions 
& are therefore happy. I rejoice at it with all my heart 
& sincerely wish that your happiness may continue a 
long time tho' in some other situation (ie) I wish we 
may not long need your service in the Field but that our 
injured bleeding country may shortly be delivered from 
her present melancholy situation & how my dear Friend 
shall lue hope this event so much to be desired so ear- 
nestly to be sought for by everyone is to be brought 
about? is it by a reconciliation with the (falsly call'd) 
parent state? that cannot, it is not to be expected. 

The King is still stretching (as he is pleas'd to call 
it) his rod of paternal Authority over us — the Ministry 
seem fully determined upon driving matters to the last 
extremity — the corrupt & venal Parliament are almost 
intirely in their interest & have resolv'd to support his 
sacred Majesty in the full exertion of his royal Author- 
ity — there is indeed a small minority in our favour, which 
is indeed but as the small dust of the balance for I'm 
sure they weigh nothing in the scale which like Homer's 



86 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Troy "strikes the sky." from this quarter then we can 
derive no relief. 

Since then we must at all events have War & that 
without any alternative it stands us in hand attentively 
to consider what steps may be pursued with the great- 
est probability of success and to go into them without 
hesitation. 

Whether we ought in point of advantage to declare 
ourselves an independent state & fight as independents 
or still continue to resist as subjects is a question which 
has of late very much engross'd in these parts the con- 
versation of every rank more especially since the appear- 
ance of a little Pamphlet entitled common sense — Ap- 
propos of common sense have you seen it? Upon my 
word 'tis well done. — 'tis what would be com?non sense 
were not most Men so blinded by their prejudices that 
their sense of things is not what it ought to be. — I con- 
fess a perusal of it has much reform'd my notions upon 
several points & I hope it may have the same effect upon 
many others — I own myself a staunch independent and 
ground my principles upon almost innumerable argu- 
ments. — I can see no one advantage we now have that 
would be less[e]ned by such a declaration, but many that 
we now have not which we would derive from it, — I 
sincerely believe that it would be the shortest method of 
bringing the War to an end and would in fine prove 
the salvation & glory of the Continent — 

Dear Nathan the society only of a few old Friends 
is wanting to render my situation here perfectly agree- 
able. I study or divert myself as I please & am at Lib- 
erty from all the World: & now I'm speaking of my 
old Friends Pray can you forward me a Letter to Rev^. 
M*". Samson. I'll thank you if you'll take the trouble 
to inquire for him & if you find it practicable inform 
me of it. perhaps you may get information from Lieut. 
Col. Alden of Duxbury whose station the last summer 



IN CAMP NEAR BOSTON 87 

was at Roxbury & in whose regiment M"". Sampson was 
occasionally Chaplain. — 

I remain your sincere Friend 

W Robinson 
M-" Dwight 

sends you a subscription paper 
for printing his Poem. Pray get 
as many subscribers as 
possible that we may soon 
have it out — ^ 

This letter is especially interesting as showing what 
people were talking about at the college town of New 
Haven, It properly belongs to the correspondence of the 
times. We would not miss the "Dear Nathan," but 
Robinson's political philosophy is the key-note, and the 
sidelight he throws upon "conversation" around him and 
the conservatism and "prejudices" of men is worth 
having. Robinson was then studying at Yale under the 
Berkeley scholarship, Sampson not availing himself of it, 
and within the college circle he must have found the 
general sentiment in accord with his own. There was 
"sedition" enough now floating about the seminary halls. 
The patriotic Daggett, Dwight, Humphreys, Alden, and 
others were there, doubtless as "staunch independents" 
as Robinson, and as eagerly absorbing "Common Sense." 
Our young Captain was with them in spirit. We can 
imagine the appreciation and enthusiasm with which he 
answered his classmate's letter. 

1 From the collection of the late Mr. W. F. Havemeyer, of New 
York. The letter is addressed "To Cap*. Nathan Hale, Roxbury 
Camp — By Cap*. Perrit," and indorsed by Hale. 



VI 



WITH THE ARMY AT NEW YORK— DEFEAT ON 
LONG ISLAND 

The Boston army marched to New York by brigades, 
following each other at brief intervals. The first to start 
was a specially organized command under General Heath 
and included Hale's regiment, Webb's "Nineteenth." 
Webb's marching orders, signed by Horatio Gates, then 
Washington's adjutant-general, have been preserved. 
Leaving Roxbury March i8 with five days' cooked 
rations, the troops were to proceed by way of Mann's to 
Providence and thence by way of Green's and Burn- 
ham's, well-known inns, to Norwich, a distance of ninety- 
three miles, which Heath reports, the condition of the 
roads considered, they covered "with great expedition." 
On the 26th the troops were at New London and Hale 
found himself for a third time among the friends of his 
school-teaching days and in the community from which he 
had volunteered for the field. But there was little time 
for greeting or reminiscence, as the local Gazette states 
that on the following day they all "embarked in high 
spirits on board 15 transports and sailed for New York." 
Leisurely floating up the Sound, they reached the East 
River in the forenoon of the 30th and, as Heath again 
tells us, disembarked at Turtle Bay, a convenient landing- 
place at the foot of present Forty-fifth Street, a little 
south of Blackwell's Island. 

As Hale stepped lightly ashore with his company and 
casually took in the surroundings, he saw near by an old 
powder-house and beyond it perhaps the remains of a 



WITH THE ARMY AT NEW YORK 89 

former garrison camp, while just above stood attract- 
ively James Beekman's handsome mansion and cultivated 
grounds. Little did he dream that the shifting events 
of the next five months and a half would force this same 
scene upon his view again with a sudden and pitiless real- 
ity! From that mansion he was to receive his death 
sentence, and but a mile away from where he was stand- 
ing, with enemies instead of friends about him, he was to 
meet his tragic death. 

From Turtle Bay the troops marched into New York 
City and quartered in barracks and vacant houses. In 
the course of two weeks the other brigades arrived. 
Washington, not trusting to transports, rode down the 
shore road from New London and reached the city April 
13. From this time until the battle of Long Island in 
August the business in hand for the American forces was 
to fortify their new position. The military problem pre- 
sented more complications than at Boston. There the 
object had been to drive the enemy out of a city; here 
the effort must be made to prevent them from occupying 
one. As New York was open to a combined attack at 
more than one point by the British fleet and land forces, 
the difficulties of the defense were greatly increased. To 
protect the city from direct bombardment it became neces- 
sary to throw one wing of the American army over to 
the Long Island or Brooklyn side of the East River and 
by its partial isolation weaken the entire line. This was 
the defect in Washington's new position, but it was felt, 
and wisely held both in Congress and the army, that the 
moral effect of the voluntary abandonment of so impor- 
tant a center would work more seriously than defeat in 
attempting to hold it. The enemy were to be met at the 
coast where they landed and every inch of soil disputed 
with them. This was the key-note of the campaign of 
1776. 



go NATHAN HALE, 1776 

In following Hale's experiences in this new field, we 
miss the two sources of information and personal inci- 
dent available for 1775. The entries in his diary for 
1776 are few and scattered and most of his correspond- 
ence has disappeared. Of his own letters for this year, 
three exist. In various other records, however, his regi- 
ment is referred to. On April 2, three days after its 
arrival. General Heath reviewed his brigade "on the green 
near the Liberty pole." The men, we are told, "made a 
martial appearance, being well armed, and went through 
their exercise much to the satisfaction of a great con- 
course of the inhabitants of the city." The green was 
the present City Hall Park, then much larger in area and 
generally called "the fields," or common, while the 
liberty-pole, which in earlier years Sons of Liberty set up 
as often as British soldiers cut it down, stood near the 
spot where Hale's statue now stands. In the review he 
must have marched over the site. As summer approached 
and troops kept coming in, they were encamped In tents 
outside of the city and on the Long Island front. Heath's 
brigade, which passed successively under Generals Stir- 
ling's and Sullivan's command and later under General 
McDougall's, was stationed early in May at about the 
center of the defenses thrown up across the island along 
the Bowery at that point, with Webb's regiment appar- 
ently on the west side of the road. Of the three redoubts 
it was to man, one was on a high hill known as Bayard's 
Mount, but which the British during their occupation 
called Bunker Hill. It was In Its vicinity that Hale would 
have been found during the greater part of this cam- 
paign. 

On July 9 — quoting once more from Heath's valu- 
able memoirs — "At evening roll-call the declaration 
of the Congress, declaring the United Colonies FREE, 

SOVEREIGN, AND INDEPENDENT STATES, waS published at 



WITH THE ARMY AT NEW YORK 91 

the head of the respective brigades in camp, and received 
with loud huzzas." The inevitable issue was joined at 
last, a new nation was proclaimed, and no one, we ven- 
ture to say, gave a more responsive cheer than our young 
captain, who felt for the first time that whatever sacrifice 
he might be called upon to make, it could now be made 
in the name of all that the colonies ought to fight for. 
None could rejoice more heartily with him than William 
Robinson, with his faith in the doctrine and counsel of 
"Common Sense." 

For a short time, in April or May, Hale's regiment 
was stationed on Long Island, where there were works 
to build and tories to watch. Many of the latter were 
arrested and removed under guard to other parts. Hale 
entertaining a true Whig's opinion of them. "It would 
grieve every good man," he writes to his brother Enoch, 
May 30, "to consider what unnatural monsters we have 
as it were in our bowels. Numbers in this Colony, and 
likewise in the western part of Connecticut, would be 
glad to imbrue their hands in their country's blood." 
With more satisfaction he touches on other points, June 
3 : "It gives pleasure to every friend of his country to 
observe the health which prevails in our army. . . . 
The army is every day improving in discipline, and it is 
hoped will soon be able to meet the enemy at any kind of 
play. My company, which at first was small, is now 
increased to eighty, and there is a sergeant recruiting, 
who, I hope, has got the other ten which completes the 
Company. We are hardly able to judge as to the num- 
bers the British army for the summer is to consist of — 
undoubtedly sufficient to cause too much bloodshed." 
These are brief sentences, but they continue to reflect 
Hale's unwavering tone. He is observing, stout-hearted, 
confident, ready to meet the enemy "at any kind of play." 

Enoch Hale's replies to his "brother Captain," as he 



92 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

called him, are not at hand. That he wrote to him sev- 
eral times at this period appears from his own brief diary. 
Having entered the ministry, Enoch was now beginning 
to preach, filling pulpits temporarily at different places. 
As a member of a patriotic family, he was interested in all 
that was going on and added his encouragement to the 
cause. "Go to training, pray with the soldiers," is one 
of his entries. "Preach to the soldiers before they 
march" is another. On June 19 he notes that his brother 
John "has received a letter from Nathan, dated 17th at 
New York; has sent one for me by the way of Norwich — 
not received yet." From July 23 to 26 he was in 
New Haven attending Commencement. He called on 
the President, saw Mr. Dwight, dined with classmate 
Hillhouse, lodged with classmate Robinson, took tea at 
"Rev. Edwards" and "Rev. Whittlesey's" and obtained 
the degree of Master of Arts for himself and the captain. 
"Write to brother to tell him I have got him his degree." 
Many questions, of course, these good college friends had 
to ask about Nathan and how he fared in the army, and 
probably they heard nothing more of him until the dis- 
tressing news came in two months later. 

To the disappointment of the spirited young officers 
in the American army, no more opportunities for dis- 
tinguishing themselves in minor affairs offered here at 
New York than at the siege of Boston. Active cam- 
paigning did not open until the end of the summer. Pre- 
liminary skirmishes, dashes at picket posts, bold recon- 
noitering, and surprises were out of the question before 
the battle of Long Island. Hale, it will appear, seems 
to have missed the chances of this kind which warfare 
usually presents. How much credit, accordingly, is to be 
given to accounts which make him the leader in a clever 
exploit early in the season, it is difficult to say. It is 
stated that he performed the feat of cutting out a sloop 



WITH THE ARMY AT NEW YORK 93 

loaded with supplies from under the guns of the British 
man-of-war Asia, then lying in the East River, and dis- 
tributing the clothes and provisions to needy soldiers of 
the army. That he was capable of such a capture will be 
taken for granted, but most probably the incident has 
come down in an exaggerated form or has been confused 
with some other affair.^ Many of Hale's company being 
sailors, they were detailed from time to time to man 
whale-boats patrolling the harbor and surrounding shores, 
and a few, with one or two officers, are reported as being 
in the privateering service. Beyond this the regiment was 
on almost constant duty with the other troops on the lines 
around the city or on Governor's Island. 

Presently, on June 28, the enemy arrived. In a few 
weeks they numbered twenty-five thousand, with a power- 
ful fleet to cooperate. Their camps were scattered over 
Staten Island. Washington's force was somewhat larger, 
but, with its many militiamen, far less effective. The 
expectation and suspense in the American camp were 
aggravated by Lord Howe's leisurely delay in prepar- 
ing to advance. It was not until August 22 that he 
moved. The last note we have from Hale was dated 
two days before. To his brother he wrote: "I have only 
time for a hasty letter. Our situation has been such this 
fortnight or more as scarce to admit of writing. . . . 
For about six or eight days the enemy have been expected 
hourly whenever the wind and tide in the least favored. 
We keep a particular look out for them this morning. 
The place and manner of attack time must determine. 
The event we leave to Heaven." 

The first collision with the enemy — the battle of Long 
Island — occurred on August 27. Lord Howe, at Staten 
Island, had been studying the American position for sev- 

1 Some facts in the case are given in Chapter VIII. 



94 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

eral weeks and rightly concluded that Its vulnerable point 
lay in the detached left wing on the Brooklyn side. A 
successful attack there would result in the capture of some 
thousands of Washington's men, or, if unsuccessful, the 
British could march on to the vicinity of Hell Gate, and 
by threatening the American flank and rear at Harlem 
or beyond, compel the surrender of New York. Accord- 
ingly, with the bulk of his army, twenty-two thousand or 
more effectives, Howe crossed the Narrows to Gravesend 
beach and prepared to push three columns against the 
Brooklyn outposts and fortified lines. The latter ran 
through the heart of the present city. One column 
moved toward the site of Greenwood Cemetery, another 
to Flatbush and the lower edge of Prospect Park, while 
the third and strongest, under Howe in person, was held 
in position further east. As soon as Washington was 
assured that this was no feint, but a determined advance, 
he hurried troops across to the exposed flank and engaged 
the enemy in skirmishes on the roads. On the night of 
the 26th Howe marched his third column far out to his 
right, encircled the American pickets, captured the patrol 
of five ofl'icers looking out for him, and early on the fol- 
lowing morning reached a point between the American 
works and the three thousand American troops at the 
outposts on the grounds of the cemetery and the park. 
Finding themselves outflanked and almost surrounded, 
these troops made a dash to the rear to regain their 
works, and in the running fight that followed and In the 
stand made here and there by separate parties in the 
woods and fields we have the battle of Long Island. 
Washington lost about eleven hundred men that morn- 
ing, two thirds of them prisoners, and on the night of 
the 29th, the position proving untenable, he made his 
famous retreat back to New York. The skill with which 
this was effected and the chagrin of the enemy at the loss 



WITH THE ARMY AT NEW YORK 95 

of their opportunity compensated partially, in moral 
effect, for the disaster of the 27th. 

Hale's regiment did not participate in this battle. 
McDougall's brigade, to which it then belonged, was one 
of the commands which had been sent over one or two 
days before, but it was retained within the works to repel 
an expected assault by the enemy after their success in 
the open. Hale and his comrades, however, must have 
been able to witness much of the fighting, and on the night 
of the retreat, with the sailors in the companies to dis- 
tribute among the boats, they probably had their hands 
full. We should look for some description of these 
exciting events in the captain's diary, but here that 
already broken record stops short. The closing entry, 
dated August 23, as given in his diary among his papers, 
mentions the skirmishing on Long Island, and, so far as 
known, this is the last item of military news we have 
under his own hand. 

Hale was now twenty-one years old, and commanding 
a company seventy or eighty strong. It has been ob- 
served by writers that the Revolution was fought out 
largely by young men, which is substantially true of all 
long wars. Our schoolmaster-captain was hardly a 
veteran as yet, but fourteen months with the army had 
made him something of a seasoned soldier who under- 
stood his duties and impressed his superiors. His own 
company he doubtless held well in hand by firm and kind 
methods and the force of his own example. Such a 
spirit would wish for men who could be depended upon 
in action, and we know that already there was some fight- 
ing material developing in his little command. His brave 
boy-sergeant, Fosdick, mentioned in Hale's last letter, 
could dare to run a fire-raft against a British man-of-war, 
and presently he will be fighting in Knowlton's Rangers. 
His ensign, George Hurlbut, subsequently promoted a cav- 



96 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

airy captain, was to be mortally wounded in saving a store- 
ship In the Hudson, not far above the scene of Fosdick's 
exploit. Washington's orders mention him and his com- 
rades on the occasion as "entitled to the most distin- 
guished notice and applause from their general." His 
faithful sergeant, Stephen Hempstead, to be referred to 
again, barely survived the terrible wounds he received at 
the defense of Fort Ledyard and In the massacre of Its 
garrison. What these fine fellows thought of their cap- 
tain Is a matter of record. All three were happy In serv- 
ing under him. Hale's new first lieutenant, Charles 
Webb, Jr., the colonel's son, was to fall some months 
later In a hand-to-hand whale-boat encounter In the Sound. 
So, too, as the emergency called for additional troops, 
there came down to camp several more of Hale's 
friends — a number having been with him at the Boston 
siege — filled with the same bright hopes for their coun- 
try, some of whom were to win laurels. His uncle Joseph 
and cousin Nathan Strong, mentioned In previous chap- 
ters, appeared as chaplains for brief terms, and one or 
more of his brothers and some relatives from Ashford 
and Canterbury served with the mllltla. General Gur- 
don Saltonstall and his son Gilbert, Hale's faithful corre- 
spondent, arrived with a New London county brigade 
only In time to hear of their friend's cruel fate. Gilbert 
subsequently entered the privateer service, and was sev- 
eral times wounded In an action with a British cruiser, 
which In desperation and casualties recalled the sea-fights 
of Paul Jones. Among college mates, Tallmadge, like 
Hale, now broke away from his school desk and took the 
field as adjutant. He was to become a quite famous major 
of dragoons, and be taken Into Washington's confidence In 
the management of Important secret services during the 
war. Schoolmasters Alden and Marvin, and Mr. Dwight 
as chaplain, followed In 1777. Wyllys, salutatorlan at 



WITH THE ARMY AT NEW YORK 97 

Hale's Commencement, was also here. When New York 
fell In September, it was his fate to be captured and held 
a prisoner in the city at the time his classmate was exe- 
cuted. Still other friends and acquaintances now in 
camp were Isaac Sherman, William Hull, and Ezra Sel- 
den, who, as battalion and company commanders, were 
to rush with Wayne into the enemy's stronghold at Stony 
Point — the most brilliant affair of the war. Had Hale 
lived, the promise of like service and promotion was 
before him. Not that he would have sought military 
honors as such, for a professional soldier he never could 
have become; but with his talents, aptitude, personal 
presence, and devotion to the cause, he could hardly have 
retired at the end with less distinction than his compan- 
ions. He was to be cut down, however, at the threshold, 
and an unexpected and peculiarly precious remembrance 
held in reserve for him. The strong purpose and action, 
which have given to the world its martyrs and patriots, 
work out their end in their own way and their own time. 
For Hale the occasion was to come in the next twenty 
days. 



VII 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES— CAPTURE AND 
EXECUTION 

At no period of the war was Washington oppressed 
with keener anxieties or a heavier responsibihty than dur- 
ing the twenty days immediately following the battle of 
Long Island. As New York was now practically at the 
mercy of the enemy — their guns on Brooklyn Heights 
commanding the city — all the preparations of the sum- 
mer had come to naught. The blow fell with depressing 
effect on both army and country. To restore confidence, 
repair losses, and provide against further defeat required 
herculean exertion. The faithful chief still hoped to 
maintain the same brave front, and to cling to every foot 
of the soil he had been called to defend, when a new 
problem was presented in the changed military situation. 
It was seen to be full of danger. Within a week, or by 
September 6, the British had extended their camps on 
the Long Island side from Brooklyn to Newtown and 
Hell Gate, a distance of seven miles or more, while their 
fleet threatened the city from below. Where Washing- 
ton before had been facing south, with Howe on Staten 
Island, he now found himself in effect facing east, with 
the narrow East River alone between him and his antago- 
nist. Safety seemed to lie in the instant abandonment of 
New York and all the island below the line of Harlem. 

Unwilling to retreat until driven by superior force, the 
American generals held a council of war on the 7th, and 
determined to defend their entire position, both city and 
island. This decision, which has been criticized as unmili- 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 99 

tary and almost inexplicable, was to be reversed four 
days later, but the troops were not all withdrawn from 
the city until the 15th. Washington, more than any one 
else, recognized the risks involved. Against them he also 
balanced the chances in his favor, as they varied from 
day to day and from hour to hour. The imminent danger 
was twofold. As long as it could be observed that the 
British were not collecting a flotilla of boats for crossing, 
the American army was comparatively safe. One tide 
at night, however, might bring them up from the bay, 
in which case another surprise would be possible. Three 
ships, the he Brune, Niger, and brig Halifax, had sailed 
around from the Narrows into the Sound and anchored 
above New Rochelle on the afternoon of the battle, and 
their boats would be available. The American wing 
about Harlem and the troops below would thus be threat- 
ened by way of the present Blackwells, Wards, and Ran- 
dalls Islands, while the entire army might be hemmed 
in on Manhattan Island by a more northerly move across 
to the Westchester shore and a rapid march to White 
Plains or upon Kingsbridge. In either attempt on the 
part of the British it was of the first importance to antici- 
pate them. 

With this critical situation continuing during the first 
two weeks of September, Washington's suspense in- 
creased. If he had been anxious to fathom Howe's 
plans before the latter began the campaign from Staten 
Island, he was far more so now. It was not enough to 
keep a ceaseless watch across the East River. Works 
and camps were here and there in open view, but what 
was going on behind them? When and where was the 
next blow to fall? 

What Washington sought for was information — full, 
accurate, and speedy information that would throw light 
on Howe's designs. Like every other commander in his- 



100 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

tory, all through the contest he came to depend much on 
intelligence gained through the "secret service."^ Authori- 
ties on war make the spy an essential of war, especially jus- 
tifying his utilization by an army defending a great cause 
and its own soil. This had already been done in the 
present campaign. As early as July 14, General Hugh 
Mercer reported his regret to Washington that he could 
find no one qualified to enter the camp of the British then 
recently arrived. On August 21, however, General 
William Livingston relieved him with the despatch: 
"Very providentially I sent a spy last night on Staten 
Island to obtain intelligence. He has this moment 
returned in safety." So now, on September i, the chief 
urged Generals Heath and George Clinton to establish 
"a channel of information" through which frequent 
reports from the Long Island side could reach him. 
"Perhaps," he writes, "some might be got who are really 
Tories for a reasonable reward to undertake it. Those 
who are friends would be preferable, if they could man- 
age it as well." More anxiously and hurriedly he wrote 
on the 5th: "As everything in a manner depends on 
obtaining intelligence of the enemy's motions, I do most 
earnestly entreat you and General Clinton to exert your- 
selves to accomplish this most desirable end. Leave no 
stone unturned, nor do not stick at expense to bring this 
to pass, as I was never more uneasy than on account of 
my want of knowledge on this score. . . . Keep con- 
stant lookouts, with good glasses, on some commanding 
heights that look well on to the other shore, and espe- 
cially into the bays, where boats can be concealed, that 
they may observe, more particularly in the evening, if 

^ On this point consult article, "The Secret Service of the Revolution," 
in Magazine of American History, February, 1882. It there appears how 
far Major Tallmadge, Hale's classmate, assisted Washington in the 
business. 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES loi 

there be any uncommon movements. Much will depend 
upon early intelligence, and meeting the enemy before 
they can intrench. I should much approve of small 
harassing parties, stealing, as it were, over in the night, 
as they might keep the enemy alarmed, and more than 
probably bring off a prisoner, from whom some valuable 
intelligence may be obtained."^ Heath and Clinton 
promptly responded. The latter attempted something in 
person, by going to New Rochelle to lead a scouting party 
of one hundred men to Long Island on the night of the 
9th, but he found the Halifax with three sloop tenders 
lying in his course and he was stopped. The most he 
could do was to send over two men who solemnly en- 
gaged "to run every risk to gain the necessary intelli- 
gence."^ Heath rode down to the shore to see that 
pickets and outposts were on the watch. 

It is here, in this emergency, that we come to what 
proved to be the turning point in Hale's career. As in 
the case of many other officers in the after years of the 
war, he was temporarily transferred from his own regi- 
ment to another command. Ordinarily this would be no 
more than an interesting fact in his soldier experience, 
but its relation to the anxieties felt at headquarters and 

1 This Interesting letter appears in the "Heath Papers," p. 283, Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society Collections. 

2 "Public Papers of George Clinton," etc.. Revolution Series, Vol. I, 
p. 343. 

Washington showed the same anxiety at the close of the campaign 
when he was forced to retreat through the Jerseys and across the Dela- 
ware at Trenton. Wishing to know whether the enemy intended to follow 
him immediately, he wrote to General Ewing, December 14, in the same 
vein as here to Heath and Clinton; "Everything in a manner depends 
on the defense at the Water Edge. . . . Let me entreat you to Cast 
about to find out some person who can be engaged to Cross the River 
as a Spy, that we may, if possible, obtain some knowledge of the Enemy's 
Situation, movements and intentions. . . . Expense must not be Spared 
. . . and will readily be paid by me." 



102 NATHAN HALE. 1776 

to the situation in which the army was just then placed, 
unwittingly made the change a matter of vital conse- 
quence to himself. The new command was a small body 
then recently organized for special light and scouting 
service, which will be recognized by those familiar with 
these movements as "Knowlton's Rangers." Such ran- 
gers had been effective in the French and Indian War. 
Among their daring leaders were Captains Robert 
Rogers and Israel Putnam. They had served as the eyes 
of the old frontier army under Amherst and Abercrom- 
bie, and it was just such trusty and fearless men that 
Washington now needed in his own during the remainder 
of this campaign. The lack of them was felt on Long 
Island when Howe stole his night march around the 
American left. As Putnam had become a rebel general 
and Rogers a loyalist colonel on the other side, the com- 
mand of the proposed corps fell to Lieutenant-Colonel 
Thomas Knowlton, of Ashford, Connecticut, who had 
gallantly defended the rail fence at Bunker Hill, and in 
the former war had been a ranger himself. For this 
body about one hundred and thirty men and twenty 
officers were regarded as sufficient for present purposes. 
They were divided into four companies, and only the 
best material was admitted to their ranks. The selec- 
tions were made largely from the regiments of Knowl- 
ton's own State, and it is probable that the captains at 
least were men of his own choice. Two were taken from 
his own regiment, and of the other two, one was Nathan 
Hale. Whether the latter volunteered his services, or 
was invited on account of his recognized fitness, does not 
appear. We know that he was accepted and served. On 
the September rolls of Webb's regiment the record is 
entered that one captain and two lieutenants were "on 
command," while among the many evidences of service 
filed away in the Pension Bureau at Washington — the 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 103 

diaries, letters, commissions, and sometimes touching 
statements of old Revolutionary soldiers whom Con- 
gress had long neglected — may be found the brief re- 
ceipts of moneys due to "the Company of Rangers com- 
manded late by Captain Hale."^ 

And so we reach those few remaining days when our 
student-captain will break away from regimental routine 
to seek more active duty; when he will find himself in 
closer touch with the movements and interests of the 
army at large; when he will know more of the plans 
and wishes of his beloved commander; when he will 
feel the thrill of special responsibility; and when, finally, 
he will not shrink from taking his life in his hands and, 
single-handed, attempt a service which he feels the de- 
mands of the hour require of him. 

Completed about September i, Knowlton's detachment 
was quickly scouting at exposed points. One company, 
certainly, patrolled the Westchester shore, and the others 
probably the Harlem and Hell Gate flank. They were 
not engaged on the 15th when Howe finally made his 
descent on New York, for he crossed some miles below, 
at Kip's Bay, at the foot of East Thirty-fourth Street. 
Washington meanwhile had withdrawn the greater part 
of his force from the city to the northern end of the 
island, and suffered nothing more serious than a tempo- 
rary panic and the loss of three or four hundred militia- 
men. On the following day, however, September 16, the 
entire body of Rangers succeeded in drawing the van of 
the British some distance out of their new encampment 
on the line of One Hundred and Seventh Street, crossing 
upper Central Park, and then, with other troops, distin- 
guished themselves in driving it back again with loss. 

1 The Battle of Harlem Heights, p. 194; published for the Columbia 
University Press, New York, 1897. For roster of the Rangers, see p. 189 
of that work. 



104 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

This was the battle of Harlem Heights, fought partly on 
the present site of Columbia University; and although it 
proved a costly victory in the death of the brave Knowl- 
ton, it wonderfully cheered the dispirited army and 
stirred the young blood of its soldiers to further effort. 
With what courage and dash would not Hale have en- 
gaged in this encounter after the long months of drill, 
trench digging, and company cares in camp ! Here were 
fire and action that were real and brought results — the 
kind of service he had been clearly eager for, and which 
now it seemed that he could render. But Hale was not 
there. Probably of all the Rangers he alone was absent 
from the Harlem field — nevertheless to be found some- 
where on some kind of duty, we may be assured. At the 
very hour that his comrades were developing the position 
of the enemy and fighting hard to retrieve the loss and 
panic of the previous day, he was far over on the shores 
of Long Island on the point of undertaking the hazard- 
ous errand with which his name is associated. 

As Knowlton, in the capacity of partizan leader, 
received his instructions directly from the Commander- 
in-Chief, he came necessarily to enter confidentially into 
his anxieties and wishes. There is no record to follow 
here, no unearthed reports of interviews and orders, but 
if Washington had urged Mercer and Livingston and 
Heath and Clinton to use every means to obtain informa- 
tion of the enemy, employing spies if they could, he obvi- 
ously urged the same on Knowlton, in whose military 
capacity and tact he had great confidence. If it belonged 
to any one it would belong to an officer whose business 
it was to keep in close touch with the opposite picket 
lines, to see what could be done by stealthy means. The 
office of a spy was doubtless as repugnant to the gallant 
Ranger leader as to any soldier in the army, but in the 
present emergency, between the ist and lOth of Septem- 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 105 

ber, he could not ignore the call upon him and he 
broached the subject to one or more of his captains and 
subordinates. Possibly he was directed to do so by Wash- 
ington himself. The veil that usually hangs over the 
transactions of the secret service is tightly drawn in this 
case, and we are left largely to conjecture as to Knowl- 
ton's presentation of the matter. Of one thing only have 
we definite knowledge, and that is, that among his offi- 
cers Captain Nathan Hale, after conversations with his 
colonel and a fellow-captain, became deeply impressed 
with the situation and the unexpected duty which seemed 
to devolve on some one in his corps. The question broke 
full upon him, at first perhaps like a shadow, and again 
like a summons — Shall he become a spy? 

There could have been no climax or dramatic incidents, 
as usually represented, connected with Hale's acceptance 
of this service. Out of keeping with his character, incon- 
sistent with military usage, and not well authenticated, 
they may be discarded as impairing the naturalness of the 
story, ^ It is just at this point that the young patriot 
reveals himself and shines in his own light. He does not 
act from impulse. Fortunately, we have an expression 
of his views in the case, and know what considerations 

1 Stuart has generally been followed in his description of a meeting 
between Knowlton and his officers, where, after an appeal in the name of 
Washington for a volunteer to enter the enemy's lines, with no response 
from any one, there presently "came a voice with the painfully thrilling 
yet cheering words — 7 ^ill undertake it!' That was the voice of Captain 
Nathan Hale. He had come late into the assembly of officers. Scarcely 
yet recovered from a severe illness, his face still pale, without his accus- 
tomed strength of body, yet firm and ardent as ever of soul, he volunteered 
at once, reckless of its danger, and though doubtless appalled, not van- 
quished by its disgrace, to discharge the repudiated trust." Stuart prob- 
ably accepted some tradition to this effect. Hull, however, tells us that 
Hale had the matter under consideration and sought his advice. Sergeant 
Hempstead, the captain's attendant, states that he declined the proposi- 
tion at first on account of recent illness, but accepted on further reflection. 



io6 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

moved him. In so grave a matter he would seek advice, 
and to no one could he open his mind more freely than 
to his college associate and fellow-captain, William Hull. 
From the latter we have the substance of the interview. 
"There was no young man," writes this officer, "who 
gave fairer promise of an enlightened and devoted ser- 
vice to his country than this my friend and companion in 
arms. His naturally fine intellect had been carefully cul- 
tivated, and his heart was filled with generous emotions; 
but, like the soaring eagle, the patriotic ardour of his 
soul 'winged the dart which caused his destruction.' After 
his interview with Colonel Knowlton, he repaired to my 
quarters and informed me of what had passed. He 
remarked that he thought he owed to his country the 
accomplishment of an object so important and so much 
desired by the commander of her armies, and he knew 
of no other mode of obtaining the information than by 
assuming a disguise and passing into the enemy's camp. 
He asked my candid opinion." Hull then replied, as 
he tells us, by laying before Hale the hateful service of 
a spy, and his own unfitness for the role, as being too 
frank and open for deceit and evasion, and warned him 
of the consequences. He predicted, indeed, that should 
he undertake the enterprise, his promising career would 
close with an ignominious death. 

In Hale's reply, spoken, says Hull, with warmth and 
decision, we have a fitting prelude to his dying words: "I 
am fully sensible of the consequences of discovery and 
capture in such a situation. But for a year I have been 
attached to the army, and have not rendered any mate- 
rial service while receiving a compensation for which I 
make no return. Yet I am not influenced by the expec- 
tation of promotion or pecuniary reward; I wish to be 
useful, and every kind of service, necessary to the public 
good, becomes honorable by being necessary. If the exi- 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 107 

gencles of my country demand a peculiar service its 
claims to perform that service are imperious."^ 

Once more Hull urged him, for love of country and of 
kindred, to abandon the project. Hale paused a moment, 
then affectionately taking his companion by the hand, 
added, as he went out: "I will reflect, and do nothing but 
what duty demands." When Hull next heard of him it 
was the shocking word that his prediction had come true. 

That Hale should take so high and unusual a view of 
the obligations of the service upon him needs no other 
explanation than one finds in his own words and in his 
training and moral fiber. It was his view of duty. There 
was something of what has been called the Puritan 
inwardness in the process by which he reached his deci- 
sion. In the previous century he would have made a 
soldier after Cromwell's own heart — an Ironside who 
could pray mightily and fight as he prayed. If a service 
was to be performed which the crisis demanded, in the 
performance of it all consequences were to be excluded 
from consideration. In this case the situation seemed 
to the earnest youth to require his best and most unselfish 
effort. Washington's latest order, following the retreat 
from Long Island, called especially upon the officers of 
all grades "to exert themselves and gloriously determine 
to conquer or die," and Hale's answer came in the reso- 
lution he now formed. 

This question — the momentous question of his life — ■ 
thus settled, the captain left camp on his perilous mis- 
sion, with the calm and sustaining courage, we must 
believe, which such a decision would inspire. The time 
of his departure can be fixed with some degree of accu- 
racy through his brother Enoch, who notes in his diary 

1 Revolutionary Services and Civil Life of General William Hull, by 
his daughter, Mrs. Maria Campbell. Further reference is made to this 
work. 



io8 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

that it was "about the second week" of September, or 
approximately the loth or 12th of the month. Guided 
by the recollections of his sergeant, Hempstead, who, at 
Hale's request, accompanied him a certain distance as an 
attendant, we can also trace his steps well toward his 
destination. The safest route lay across the Sound and 
along the roads of Long Island, around to the rear of 
the British army on the East River. This was one of 
the lines of secret communication effectively utilized by 
Washington in later years, and he may have indicated it 
for the present initial venture.^ With a general order 
in his pocket from the Commander-in-Chief to the cap- 
tains of armed craft to convey him to any point he might 
designate. Hale proceeded through Westchester County 
into Connecticut, where no opportunity of crossing offered 
until he reached Norwalk.^ Had he attempted the start 
from a point further west — from Throgs Neck, City 
Island, or New Rochelle — the risks would have been 
great, for British men-of-war were hovering in the vicin- 
ity, with their tenders scouring the shores for skiffs and 
boats. As this was one of the objects of Hale's errand, 
to ascertain what movement these ships might be trying 
to blind or directly facilitate, it behooved him, above all 
things, to avoid them at this stage of his route. 

At Norwalk, Hale found an armed sloop, in command, 
as Hempstead states, of a Captain Pond, with whom he 

1 Whether Hale received instructions as to his route and the informa- 
tion required directly from Washington or from the latter through Colonel 
Knowlton, is not entirely clear. It was necessary for the Commander-in- 
Chief to give his consent to the enterprise. Hempstead states that the 
captain twice visited headquarters on the business, headquarters then 
being at the Mortier house on the west side, above the line of present 
Canal Street. We believe it safe to follow Hempstead. Younger officers 
on special duty were generally in the confidence of Washington. It was 
so with Major Tallmadge for the greater part of the war. Hempstead's 
article on Hale is given in Chapter VIII. 

2 A brief note on the crossing-place is given in the concluding chapter. 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 109 

arranged to be set across the Sound at Huntington, Long 
Island, twelve or fifteen miles distant. We now know 
that this was Charles Pond, of Milford, Connecticut, one 
of Hale's fellow-officers in the Nineteenth Regiment, 
necessarily well known to him, and whose own hardy and 
daring spirit would lead him to further his comrade's 
enterprise. 

How Captain Pond came to be in the naval service 
and at Norwalk at this particular moment revives some 
incidents in the exciting warfare of the Revolutionary 
privateers of which as yet we know but little. In this 
instance the documents of the time help us to the extent 
that among the vessels which the Provincial Convention 
of New York had fitted out to guard the coast were two 
armed sloops named the Montgomery and the Schuyler, 
commanded respectively by Captains William Rogers and 
James Smith. In May, 1776, Smith resigned his com- 
mission and the Schuyler passed as a Continental sloop 
under the command of Captain Pond, who, as one of the 
skilful sailors in his regiment, was detached for tempo- 
rary service at sea, much as Captain Coit and others had 
been detached from their regiments for similar service off 
Boston. During the summer these two small vessels 
cruised from Sandy Hook to Montauk Point and sent 
their prizes into Rhode Island and Connecticut, or 
stranded them in the inlets of the South Shore. On June 
19, Pond reported to Washington the capture, off Fire 
Island, of an English merchantman with a valuable cargo, 
which Washington in turn was gratified to report to Con- 
gress. With the defeat on Long Island, the successful run 
of these vessels was cut short. The enemy's ships — among 
them the Cerberus, Merlin, and Syren — became more 
active and drove the American craft into safer waters. 
The Montgomery and the Schuyler, which at times cruised 
in company, slipped by these watch-dogs, and about 



no NATHAN HALE, 1776 

September 3 sailed into New London harbor. A few 
days later one of them certainly, and doubtless both, 
reported at Norwalk/ Hale would thus find them there 
on his arrival. 

The usual ferry to Long Island, run by the Raymonds 
of Norwalk, had been interrupted by the presence in the 
Sound, and occasionally in that vicinity, of the British 
eight- or ten-gun brig Halifax, already mentioned, com- 
manded by Captain Quarme, and in her unpublished log 
we find an entry which seems to be confirmatory of the 
foregoing and may furnish the approximate date of 
Hale's crossing. Cruising off Huntington on the 17th, 
Quarme learned that "two rebel privateers" had been 
seen in the neighborhood. Suspecting that they might 
be lurking in the inlets of the bay, he armed his boats 
and tenders and sent them in search of the craft, but 

1 That Pond belonged to Hale's regiment appears from a sentence in 
a letter from Colonel J. Huntington to his father, dated Camp at New 
York, June 24, 1776: "A small schooner of 4 guns only commanded by 
Lieut Pond of Captain Perrits Company has taken one of the Scotch 
Transports with Troops & carried her into a Port on the back of Long 
Island." MSS. Connecticut Historical Society. Captain Perrit, of Mil- 
ford, was one of Hale's fellow-captains. 

The New York Convention received information, September 18, 1776, 
that "Captain Rogers of the Sloop Montgomerie has left the South side 
of Long Island and is arrived at Norwalk, Ct." Referring to a proposed 
naval expedition to attack the British ships off Whitestone, Long Island, 
Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, wrote, September 12: "There is 
Capt. Pond, in the Continental privateer, and another one, Capt. Rogers, 
belonging to the state of New York, which probably could be had." On 
October 13, he refers to them as being near Norwalk. These and other 
references from Force's Archives, 5, II, pp. 304, 305, etc. 

Captain Pond continued on duty with the Schuyler in the Sound until 
December, 1777, when the sloop was captured off Huntington with part 
of Colonel S. B. Webb's expedition to Long Island. Later he com- 
manded the Lady Spencer; then, in 1779, he took charge of the Neia 
Defence, which, in 1780, surrendered after a desperate action at sea. On 
the captain's gravestone at Milford, where he died, May 18, 1832, aged 
eighty-eight, he is described as "an actor in the Revolution and through 
life Liberty's friend." 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES iii 

without result/ These privateers could have been none 
other than the Montgomery and the Schuyler, still keep- 
ing in company, and to be reported on the 17th they must 
have crossed on the 15th or i6th. It was from the 
Schuyler, then — Captain Pond's vessel — we have every 
reason to believe, that Hale landed on the Huntington 
shore on one of these dates — the day or night of the loss 
of New York or of the battle of Harlem Heights. 

The final preparations, in themselves enough to test 
both nerve and soul, had been made at Norwalk, and 
Hale was ready. It is from Hempstead alone that we 
have the few details. "Captain Hale," he tells us, "had 
changed his uniform for a plain suit of citizen's brown 
clothes, with a round, broad brimmed hat; assuming the 
character of a Dutch schoolmaster, leaving all his other 
clothes, commission, public and private papers with me, 
and also his silver shoe buckles, saying they would not 
comport with his character of schoolmaster, and retain- 
ing nothing but his college diploma, as an introduction to 
his assumed calling." Thus equipped, we parted for the 
last time in life. He went on his mission and I returned 
back again to Norwalk with orders to stop there till he 

1 From "A Log of the Proceedings of Hs. Majesty's Armd Brigg 
Halifax. . . . Wiling. Quarme, Commander, by Abm. Pulliblank, 2^^ 
Master & Pilot," London Record Office. 

Extracts: Sept. 16, "At Anchor off New City Island Long Island 
Sound." Sept. 17, sailed to Great Head, "at ^ past 9 [p.m.] weighed and 
Came to sail Tender and Ranger sloop in Company — A.M. at 4 came too 
in Huntington Bay. Sent the Tenders and Boats Armd to serch the Bay 
for two Rebel Privateers haveing Interlagence of them." Sept. 18, . . . 
"the Niger's Tender came down and Anchord Here [4 p.m.] feired a 
4 p. and mad the signal for the Boats and Tenders [6 p.m.] the tenders 
and Boats Returnd not being able to find any Rebel Privateers." For 
further extracts showing where the Halifax was at the time of Hale's 
capture, see Chapter VIII. 

2 Robinson, Hale's classmate, according to his biographer, used to say 
that it was Nathan's diploma that betrayed him when arrested. This was 
conjecture. Onderdonk, the Long Island antiquarian, doubted whether 



112 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

should return, or I hear from him, as he expected to cross 
the Sound if he succeeded in his object." 

A Dutch schoolmaster with a New England diploma ! 
The pleasantry may have come from the strong and 
expectant youth, but in any case, Dutch or Yankee, if he 
was to play his part in broad daylight the schoolmaster's 
was his natural role. 

Here on the shores of Huntington Bay, where he 
landed, until the fatal night of his capture. Hale is com- 
pletely lost to our view. He had crossed the danger line 
into the enemy's territory and we cannot follow him 
further except as the briefest allusions appear from Brit- 
ish sources. At the point where we would wish to keep 
pace with him the curtain falls with an abrupt conceal- 
ment of what must have been a deeply interesting and 
possibly thrilling experience. One thing may be noticed. 
Soon after landing he necessarily learned that New York 
had been captured on the 15th and the Americans de- 
feated and crowded back to the heights above Harlem. 
On that date, as stated. Lord Howe had made his delayed 
attack, and by nightfall was in possession of the city and 
two thirds of the island. The wearing anxiety as to his 
movements was over, and Hale was too late for the imme- 
diate information Washington needed. The situation 
had materially changed in a day and the question could 
well force itself upon him whether he should not return 
to camp, where service with his Rangers might prove 
more important. The circumstances would seem to have 
entirely justified this step. But he went on. With his 
sense of duty as controlling as ever, and his soldierly 
pride more Immediately touched now that he stood on 

Hale would have his diploma with him in camp. It was a small parch- 
ment at that period. Hale no doubt had it with him at his New London 
school and took it along with various other articles we know he carried 
in his army baggage. 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 113 

hostile soil, he doubtless felt that if another defeat had 
befallen his comrades, a greater anxiety prevailed as to 
the enemy's next movements, and that he must continue 
in his effort for their relief. 

Beyond noting certain facts and inferences which bear 
upon the point, there would be little to gain in speculating 
on Hale's course and methods during the six or seven 
days in which he was now to play the spy. At Hunting- 
ton he was still some forty miles distant from his objec- 
tive point — the main British army on New York 
Island — and with the caution required in making his 
way, it would take him one third or more of the time 
to reach it. There were also the camps on the Long 
Island side opposite Hell Gate, with the suspicious ships, 
boats and tenders scattered towards Throgs Neck, and 
of these he must learn as much as possible. In passing 
along the roads in the rear of the army from Huntington 
through Hempstead and Jamaica, or around by Flushing 
and Newtown, and on to New York City by way of 
Brooklyn, now Fulton, Ferry — whatever route he fol- 
lowed — he should have found the moment favorable in 
one respect. With the battle of Long Island and the loss 
of New York regarded as crushing defeats for the Ameri- 
cans, the tories in King's and Queen's counties were in 
high glee in anticipation of the speedy end of the rebel- 
lion. The old authority was reestablished. The luke- 
warm were taking the oath of allegiance. Generals 
Erskine and Delancey were already suppressing the 
Whigs. Loyalists were enlisting. There was more 
going to and fro on the highways. A rebel spy would 
hardly be looked for there. If Hale were brought up 
with a round turn to account for himself, he could read- 
ily explain that he was one of the Connecticut refugees 
who were just then beginning to cross the Sound singly or 
in small parties. Without friends, he could claim the 



114 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

king's protection and seek employment in New York. 
On the other hand, at times, some untoward circum- 
stance, some strict regulation, some ungrounded fear 
putting him on his guard, he may have concealed him- 
self during the day and moved anxiously along in the 
shadows of the night. It may also be pointed out that 
he would be wary as to how he showed himself in the 
city. Much of the old population, the poorer element 
especially, unable to leave with the Americans or happy 
at the change of masters, remained. Hale had been 
encamped there five months. There were negroes, 
laborers, loiterers, sharp-eyed boys, market-people, inn- 
keepers, and others who might recognize and face him 
at any turn. His open features and athletic form could 
hardly be disguised. Peculiar dangers as well as oppor- 
tunities presented themselves. Who can tell how that 
critical interval was passed? The movements of spies 
seldom come to light, — the case of Andre, so remarkably 
consecutive in detail, being a rare exception or more 
properly a case of a different character. 

Of this we seem to be certain — the assurance, as will 
appear, coming from the British themselves — that down 
to the moment of arrest Hale had conducted his desperate 
and unfamiliar business with courage, skill, and address. 
At the time of his capture his observations as a spy had 
been practically completed. This was an adroit and suc- 
cessful piece of work. The main body of the enemy, as 
already stated, then lay across upper Manhattan Island, 
where they had begun to intrench and fortify after the 
action of the i6th. If the memoranda which were found 
on Hale's person included drawings or outlines of 
works, the works must have been these they were now 
busily constructing. There were no others. It was a 
line of five or six redoubts, running east and west, three 
of which stood on the high ground at the northern end 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 115 

of Central Park/ Whether Hale caught glimpses of 
their outline stealthily, or as an onlooker permitted to 
visit the camps, can only be conjectured. But if he were 
actually there, what sensations must have moved him at 
the moment! From the Central Park site he was but 
one mile away from, and in full view of, the American 
outposts near Eighth Avenue and One Hundred and 
Twenty-seventh Street. To the east of that point were the 
quarters of his own company of Rangers. Near by, on 
the heights to the west, lay the field of Harlem battle, 
of which he may have learned something from the casual 
conversations of British soldiers. The associations would 
crowd upon him, and doubly so, for to reach his own 
army across the plain seemed but a step. 

The week passed and the end came. On the evening 
of September 22, the regular daily orders from the 
British Commander-in-Chief to his army contained an 
unusual announcement — nothing quite like it to be re- 
peated during the war — which doubtless afforded the 
gossip around the camp-fires that night, some of the red- 
coats listening with merely passing curiosity and others 
indulging in contemptuous hilarity and satisfaction that 
the rebels were getting their deserts in whatever game 
they played. With military brevity the paragraph in the 
order ran: 

Head Q'^ New York Island, Sep"": 22^: 1776 
Parole, London 
Count: Great Britain 

^ y^ y^ T^ v^ ^ y^ 

A spy from the Enemy (by his own full confession) apprehended 
last night, was this day Executed at 11 oClock in front of the 
Artilery Park — 

^ The position of this line and of the British array generally at this 
date may be seen in the chart opposite p. 50 in the Battle of Harlem 
Heights. 



ii6 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

The spy was Hale. The end had come In the usual 
merciless way. War demands the penalty and affixes the 
stigma, with the result that, as a rule, the spy, whether 
doomed or not, passes out of view. But with Hale it 
was not all the end. Were no more to be known of his 
death, no more of his last hours and moments while in 
the enemy's hands than Howe's order conveys, his 
memory, in all likelihood, would have been merged In the 
aggregate of memories of noble young men who gave up 
their lives in that cause. Something more would be 
needed to individualize and distinguish him. And this 
has come to us, not as a climax, not as the unexpected, 
not as a new note in his character, but as a most natural 
conclusion or culmination of the brief life we have been 
following. The reader in sympathy with his spirit, his 
integrity, his aspirations and devotion must feel that he 
would bear himself out to the end as we now know that 
he did. 

Word of Hale's fate first reached the American lines 
through an interesting channel. It came through Cap- 
tain John Montressor, of the British Engineer Corps, 
then serving as ald-de-camp to Sir William Howe. This 
officer was an old campaigner during the French and 
Indian War, knew something of the provincial or "rebel" 
character, and just now, as a former resident of New 
York, his familiarity with the city and environs made him 
a valuable member of Howe's staff. With a flag of truce 
he appeared on the evening of the 22d at the American 
outposts in old Harlem Lane as bearer of a letter to 
Washington respecting the exchange of prisoners, and 
was met by Washington's adjutant-general, Joseph Reed, 
accompanied, as references Indicate, by General Putnam 
and Captain Alexander Hamilton. At the interview 
Montressor, referring to the great fire that had just 
destroyed the lower portion of the city, told Reed that 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 117 

several supposed Americans, caught in the act as incendi- 
aries, were immediately hanged or thrown into the flames 
by the enraged inhabitants and soldiers, and he further- 
more stated that one of our own officers, a Captain Hale, 
had been executed in their camp that morning as a spy. 
Two days later Washington sent Howe a reply as to 
prisoners, dated September 23, which was carried down 
to the front with a flag by Lieutenant-Colonel Tilghman, 
one of his aids, and, as the same references indicate, 
another aid, Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel B. Webb, and 
Captain William Hull went with him. From the ap- 
pended note the inference is warranted that it was Mon- 
tressor again who rode up to receive Tilghman's de- 
spatches and that he, or at best some officer, again told 
of Hale's fate. The point of interest is that Hale was 
twice a subject of conversation at the outposts, and that, 
evidently, at least six American officers met the British 
aid and probably heard him speak of Hale. From three 
of them we know that he did so, and one of them obtained 
Information which is invaluable to our story.^ 

1 The three officers were Putnam, Webb, Hull. A lieutenant wrote 
from camp, September 24, 1776: "We learn by Montressor who told it 
to General Putnam on Sunday [22d] while he was here with a flag 
of Truce & Genl. Putnam since has told me that during the fire they 
caught a number of our people who they had prisoners & threw them 
into the Flames . . . and yesterday they caught the Captain of a Com- 
pany of Rangers & hung him immediately for a spy." Pennsylvania 
Magazine of History, Vol. XVI, p. 204. Adjutant-General Reed must cer- 
tainly have heard as much. Enoch Hale, in his diary, says that "Aide-de- 
Camp Webb with a flag, informs" him of the fate of his brother as 
reported by the British. Captain Hull, more interested than the others, 
will give us some details. Hamilton, he says, learned of Hale's fate 
before him, that is, probably at the first interview. Colonel Tilghman 
wrote to his father, September 25, 1776 [in his "Memoir"], that he had 
been to the enemy's lines with a flag the day before on the subject of 
prisoners, but says nothing about Hale. His companion aid, Webb, was 
doubtless with him, as there is no record of any flags of truce passing 
between the two headquarters at this time, beyond those of the 22d and 
the 24th of September. Webb, who came from Weathersfield, must have 



ii8 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

While we would wish to know much more than we do 
of the arrest of Hale and of the closing scenes of his life, 
the incidents of the flags of truce assure us that whatever 
information we have comes down at least from respon- 
sible sources. Prominent staff and other British and 
American officers are among our authorities. Assuring, 
also, and touching in the associations it recalls, is the fact 
that the information, the substance of the interviews at 
the picket posts, meager as it may be, was treasured up 
at the time, and at later dates passed on to our day by 
two of Hale's bosom friends — his brother Enoch Hale 
and his fellow-captain, William Hull. It is upon the 
diary of the former and the memoirs of the latter 
that we now have to depend largely in completing the 
narrative. 

Precisely when, where, and under what circumstances 
Hale was captured and executed has been a matter of 
tradition and uncertainty. Until Howe's orders came to 
light a few years since, settling several of the disputed 
points, the accounts as given by Stuart and Lossing were 
generally followed. From the new and final authority, 
we know that Hale was "apprehended" on the night of 
September 21, that he was executed at eleven o'clock in 
the forenoon of the 22d, and that the place of his execu- 
tion was the camp of the British artillery, wherever its 
location may have been at that date.^ As to the place of 
his capture, on which the order throws no light except 

known Hale personally. During the Boston siege he had been aid to 
General Putnam, whose quarters Hale occasionally visited. Once Hale 
dined there. 

1 The late Mr. William Kelby, librarian of the New York Historical 
Society, was the first to discover this important order in an orderly-book 
of the British Guards, which has since come into the possession of the 
Society. As an indefatigable student of local history, Mr. Kelby was 
greatly interested in Hale's career and fate in New York. The writer, 
well acquainted with him, has had free access to his papers. 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 119 

indirectly, Thompson and Stuart were the first writers to 
attempt to fix it definitely, resting their theories on recol- 
lections and circumstances gathered in their day. It was 
then believed that after successfully completing his obser- 
vations, Captain Hale returned to Huntington, as he had 
told Hempstead that he expected to do, where he spent 
some hours in waiting or looking for a boat to convey him 
back to Norwalk. As he approached the shore at one 
point, he suddenly found himself the victim of treachery 
or his own misapprehension, and he was seized. The 
boat that he saw proved to be a barge from the Halifax, 
or, according to another account, from the Cerberus, and 
its crew, with leveled muskets, called on him to surrender 
as he turned to escape. His arrest followed and he was 
sent by water to be delivered up at Howe's headquarters 
in New York. 

No inherent improbability would attach to the main 
statement in this account, that Hale returned to Hunting- 
ton. Taking two or three days to reach New York, two 
days in the enemy's camp, and two or three days on the 
way back, and the trip was possible. One line in the 
British order, however, seems to dispose of this view. 
As the prisoner was captured on "the night" of the 21st, 
and was in the hands of the provost-marshal some hours 
before his execution, it would have been difficult, not to 
say impossible, to take him from Huntington to New 
York in any interval that might be left. In addition, the 
alleged circumstances of his capture are unlikely, vague, 
and inconsistent. For one thing, neither the Halifax nor 
the Cerberus was off Huntington at this date. The latter, 
as its log informs us, was stationed at Block Island. The 
log of the former, in which every incident appears to be 
noticed, makes no mention of anything so creditable to 
her crew as the capture of a spy. 



120 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

On the other hand, the contemporary references and 
the probabihties in the case all point to New York or Its 
immediate vicinity as the place of Hale's capture. This 
was the earliest report and belief among comrades in 
camp. Sergeant Hempstead understood that the captain 
was seized while attempting to escape through the 
enemy's outposts on their Harlem front. The story ran 
that the pickets discovered and caught him near a tavern 
or place called "the Cedars" not more than a mile from 
the American lines. In the first printed letter, February 
13, 1777, referring to Hale's case, the same report was 
repeated. While this was evidently mere rumor, whether 
true or not, the general statement that Hale was cap- 
tured somewhere on Manhattan Island seems to find con- 
firmation from his brother Enoch, who states in his diary 
that Colonel Webb brought word, with a flag, that 
Nathan was "suspected by his movements that he wanted 
to get out of New York." Subsequently his brother John 
made this entry in the Coventry town records: "Capt. 
Nathan Hale, the son of Deac" Richard Hale was taken 
In the City of New York by the Britons and Executed as 
a spie some time in the Month of September A. D. 1776." 
That Hale should attempt escape through the picket lines 
is entirely probable. The great fire in New York that 
broke out that morning was laid to rebel incendiaries, 
and he would keep away from the strictly guarded 
ferries. Finding that concealment was hourly becoming 
more difficult, or that a plausible account of himself 
would be immediately and closely investigated, he may 
have resolved to make a dash for freedom across the 
lines. Or, to notice a later supposition, he may have 
succeeded in crossing the East River and have been 
arrested on that side. But whether challenged at the 
picket posts or halted by the patrols of the provost-mar- 
shal, Hale's fate was sealed. "Apprehended last night" 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 121 

is all that we certainly know, but the references seem to 
limit the locality to the vicinity of the British army. 

Upon his death a rumor found currency among some 
of his friends, which has been repeated and accepted by 
writers to the present day, that Hale was recognized and 
betrayed by a tory relative then in the British camp. 
This relative has been placed at both Huntington and 
New York, according to the supposed locality of his 
capture. But the rumor has never been traced beyond 
the stage of probability, and with Mr. Stuart, Hale's first 
biographer, we are unable to accept it as an explanation 
of his fate. The point is considered in the concluding 
chapter, in the light, with other material, of a recently 
unearthed letter from Hale's father. 

With the capture of New York, the British generals 
established their headquarters in the finest country-seats 
to be found in the neighborhood of the camps. Lord 
Howe selected the attractive residence of James Beek- 
man, overlooking the East River at Turtle Bay. Its site 
was at the corner of Fifty-first Street and First Avenue. 
Earl Percy was five streets above, on what was then 
known as the Hurst and afterwards as the Thomas 
Buchanan estate. Sir Henry Clinton would have been 
found in a house still further up, near Hell Gate Ferry, 
and Cornwallis may have quartered in the handsome 
Apthorpe place on the west side. It was to the Beekman 
mansion, or one of its outlying buildings, as believed, that 
Captain Hale was taken on the night of the 21st. Re- 
ported as a suspicious character, or caught in an attempt 
to escape to the rebels, it was a case of sufficient impor- 
tance to lay before Lord Howe himself. A brief exami- 
nation followed. Pointed questions were put, and then J 
the prisoner searched for concealed papers. Such were / 
found, consisting of sketches of fortifications and military 
notes, and they convicted him. Taken up — examined by 



122 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

the general — minutes found upon his person — is the con- 
densed but certain record. So both Hull and Enoch Hale 
learned through the flags of truce/ There was but one 
conclusion — the prisoner was a spy; and for a spy no 
mercy is conceivable, the only mercy lying in the summary 
punishment meted out. The proofs before him, Howe 
immediately issued an order for Hale's execution. 

Suddenly and relentlessly as this examination and 
sentence came, they were relieved by one bright passage 
whose deeper meaning the British general could not have 
appreciated. Four words in his order announcing Hale's 
fate have a precious value for this story. In telling his 
troops that this was a spy on "his own full confession," 
it was doubtless to present It not only as a clear but also 
as an aggravated case, illustrating the American method 
of warfare, in which spies confessed to their employment, 
and thus directly implicating Washington and Congress. 
But to those who have come to know Hale, "his own full 
confession" carries in It the ring of his character. His 
honor and his patriotism asserted themselves In this most 
trying moment. More than one high-minded British 
officer must have felt that it was no mean, mercenary 
fellow who had been hanged that morning, but a brave 
opponent, after all, who could frankly acknowledge his 
purpose and stoutly face the consequences. Montressor, 
for one, must have thought so. Next to having Hale's 
dying words, we would wish to know how he answered 
Howe, when confronted with the evidence of his errand. 
No explanation, no evasion, no base cringing with an offer 
to enlist In his army, no cowardly cry for pardon could 
come from him. That he gave his name at once, also his 

1 Enoch's diary: "Aide-de-Camp Webb with a flag informs that, being 
suspected ... he was taken up and examined by the general and some 
minutes being found with him, orders were immediately given that he 
should be hanged." 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 123 

rank In the Continental army, and stated his object in 
entering the British. lines, we know through Hull from 
Montressor ; but what more may he not have confessed — 
his love for his Washington, his hopes for the new nation, 
and his conviction of final success? In this full admis- 
sion it is still the Hale whom we have been following that 
we see — the true, self-poised, undaunted youth, whose 
ingrained nobility no circumstance or peril could affect. 

As tradition goes, the prisoner was guarded that night 
in the greenhouse of the Beekman gardens. The old sup- 
position that he was taken to the city jail, then in the 
present City Hall Park, four miles away, no longer holds. 
Such a prisoner would be remanded to the keeping of the 
provost-marshal, whose quarters were near the com- 
manding general's. This marshal was William Cunning- 
ham, a man with whom all the cruelties of the prison- 
houses in New York during the Revolution are asso- 
ciated. We need not dwell upon his record. As yet he 
had had less to do with American captives than with 
British offenders. Perhaps it was the terror of his name 
in his own camp that made Howe's Newtown orders of 
September 6 all the more effective: "The Provost Martial 
has a commission to execute upon the spot any soldier he 
finds guilty of marauding." In a previous order at Bos- 
ton he was explicitly directed to take the executioner 
along with him. Summary hangings may have already 
become an old story with Cunningham.^ 

With the next morning — Sunday, September 22, 
1776 — we have the closing incidents, the brief prepara- 

^ Cunningham's first experience with our prisoners at New York 
appears to have been with those captured at Fort Washington, Novem- 
ber 16, 1776. The prisoners taken on Long Island and on September IS 
were put on transports or sent into the city in charge of commissaries. 
Cunningham came from England with his family to settle in New York 
City a year or two before the war. Being a loyalist, the Whigs com- 
pelled him to leave and he joined Howe's army at Boston, receiving there 



124 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

tions, and the final scene. Hale's last hours could have 
been spent only as a man brought up under the Christian 
influences of the time would spend them. Sleepless they 
would be, with the great struggle within him — every 
tender association rushing upon his memory and welling 
up in his heart; then the fervent prayer, the deep and 
calm resignation, and the glorious uplifting thought that 
he was to fall, with so many others before and after him, 
In a cause worth any sacrifice. 

As the end nears, let Hull tell us what he had learned 
of it. Every detail connected with the fate of his com- 
panion would be fixed in his memory: 

[Hale] was absent from the army and I feared he 
had gone to the British lines, to execute his fatal purpose. 
In a few daj^s an officer [Montressor] came to our camp, 
under a flag of truce, and informed Hamilton, then a 
Captain of Artillery, but afterwards the aid of General 
Washington, that Captain Hale had been arrested within 
the British lines, condemned as a spy, and executed that 
morning. 

I learned the melancholy particulars from this officer 
who was present at his execution, and seemed touched by 
the circumstances attending it. 

He said that Captain Hale had passed through their 
army, both on Long Island and York Island. That he 
had procured sketches of the fortifications, and made 
memoranda of their number and different positions. 
When apprehended, he was taken before Sir William 
Howe, and these papers found concealed about his per- 
son, betrayed his intentions. He at once declared his 
name, his rank in the American army, and his object 
in coming within the British lines. 

the appointment of provost-marshal. In his petition for a pension after 
the war he claimed that the New Yorkers had treated him badly and 
taken his money from him. Hale was probably one of the first "rebels" 
put in his hands in this vicinity. Being a spy as well, the marshal's 
resentment toward him may have been intensified. 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 125 

Sir William Howe, without the form of a trial, gave 
orders for his execution the following morning. He was 
placed in the custody of the Provost Marshal, who was 
a Refugee, and hardened to human suffering and every 
softening sentiment of the heart. 

"On the morning of his execution," continued the 
officer, "my station was near the fatal spot, and I re- 
quested the Provost Marshal to permit the prisoner to 
sit in my marquee, while he was making the necessary 
preparations. Captain Hale entered: he was calm, and 
bore himself with gentle dignity, the consciousness of 
rectitude and high intentions. He asked for writing 
materials, which I furnished him; he wrote two letters, 
one to his mother and one to a brother officer." He was 
shortly after summoned to the gallows. But a few per- 
sons were around him, yet his characteristic dying words 
were remembered. He said "I only regret that I have 
but one life to lose for my country." 

Hull prefaced this account with his affectionate remem- 
brance of Hale and the substance of their last interview 
as given in previous pages of this chapter.^ 

When, four years later, Major Andre was executed In 
the American lines, a certain military dignity was ob- 
served in the parade of troops, the formation of a square, 
the erection of a gibbet, and in the gathering of specta- 
tors. But Andre was adjutant-general of the British 
army and his case Involved the corruption and treason 
of an Arnold. The occasion was made Impressive. For 
Hale, a rebel and self-confessed spy, there was no such 
ceremony. Toward eleven o'clock he was marched off 
by the provost-guard from Montressor's "marquee" to 
the place of execution — doubtless to some convenient 

^ Hull's "Memoirs," in the history of his revolutionary and civil life, 
by his daughter, Mrs. Maria Campbell, issued in 1848. Compare his 
account as printed in Hannah Adams' Summary History of Neiv England, 
1799, given in the next chapter. 



126 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

tree. They would not take him far. The long-accepted 
tradition that Hale was executed in Colonel Henry Rut- 
gers' orchard, overlooking the river at the foot of the 
present East Broadway, then on the outskirts of the city, 
must give way with other traditions before the official 
order of September 22. That order informs us unmis- 
takably that the execution took place "in front of the 
Artilery Park" ; and from the entries of the same orderly- 
book and other authoritative records it is possible to fix 
its site with satisfactory accuracy. As might properly be 
assumed from what has already appeared, this park could 
have been at no great distance from the Beekman mansion. 
It is certain that it was within one mile of the house. 
Camps changed during these active movements. Refer- 
ences are made to two sites where artillery was parked — 
one at Turtle Bay, just south of Beekman's or near First 
Avenue and Forty-fifth Street, the other up the main road 
near the "Dove Tavern" at Third Avenue and Sixty- 
sixth Street. Neither site is mentioned specifically until 
three weeks or more after the execution, but the recent 
recovery of maps and other material seems to establish 
the latter site as the correct one. We may say with entire 
confidence that Hale met his fate at the Dove Tavern 
Artillery and that the "front" of the park where he was 
now brought was a spot approximately on the line of 
Third Avenue between Sixty-sixth and Sixty-eighth 
Streets.^ 

Here Hale stood pinioned and guarded — here, not far 
from the shore where less than six months before he had 
landed with his regiment fresh from the Boston success 
and eager for a greater one at New York. For him the 

1 In the first edition of this work, 1901, the author took the view 
that Hale was executed at the Turtle Bay Artillery Park, about a mile 
below the Dove Tavern. His reasons for now adopting the latter site 
are given in the chapter following. 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 127 

scene had changed. In the distance were the enemy's 
battleships ; the field in front was brilliant with the equi- 
page of the most powerful arm of the king's service. He 
was facing the overwhelming fact that he was now at the 
very center of the British army and held in its fatal grip. 
In this respect at least the youth was not to die obscurely. 
It was a striking turn of incidents, but for his memory a 
most happy one, that brought this condemned American 
spy to his grave under the shadow of Lord Howe's head- 
quarters. But for this should we ever have been able to 
be with him in his last moments, to be assured once more 
of the constancy of his devotion and hear his noble 
words? It is significant that the closing details come to 
us through a British staff officer and a witness of the 
execution. Most fortunate, too, that they were repeated 
by him under flag of truce to one of Hale's sincerest 
friends — the friend whose advice he sought before under- 
taking his mission — the friend whose memory would re- 
tain and cherish such an interview through life. With the 
execution occurring elsewhere, in another presence, in or 
near the city, perhaps before a gaping or brutal crowd, 
this record we would not be without might never have 
been preserved — nothing beyond the hardened message 
that the missing captain had suffered as a spy. The local- 
ity and surroundings are all-important. Not only do 
they enable us to fill out the story in the sunlight of its 
close, but they seem to assure us, also, that no unneces- 
sary indignities attended the prisoner's death. Whatever 
the unfeeling Cunningham may have said or done, no 
insulting throng could have gathered to the spot. A few 
officers and artillerymen, some camp-followers, the stolid 
provost-guard, looked on, and the end came with its 
quick, unceremonious, cruel work. 

But above its assumed ignominy the end came glori- 
ously. As for the fated youth, he died as we have been 



128 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

expecting him to die, as all true souls have died in the loyal 
performance of duty — calmly, bravely, with one fervent 
wish for the cause he could no longer serve. There was 
no scenic effect. Little could Hale have imagined that 
what he might say to his executioner and his enemies 
around him would ever reach the ears of his comrades. 
Not many words would he be allowed or would he care to 
speak, nor were they to be words of defiance or execra- 
tion, or of sounding prediction that Britain's efforts would 
fail. No occasion will he give the spectators to drown 
his voice with gibes and sneering laughter. His heart 
was elsewhere, steadfast and absorbed as ever in the 
great movement in which he and his loved companions 
were engaged. His enemies will hear something unex- 
pected — something a few may reflect upon — something 
Lord Howe's aid will think worth reporting across the 
lines. In the rebel and the spy before them did they see 
the enduring faith and unconquerable spirit of America? 
Hardly could the face and form of this young scholar, 
teacher, soldier, and now the most devoted of patriots, 
have impressed them as the embodiment of a senseless 
revolt. For us Hale stands there as an inspiration — the 
genius of the new land to which he would devote all and 
more than he can give. As the moments passed and few 
remained, the grim preparations — the ladder, the hang- 
man, the grave at his feet — had no terrors for him. This 
death, with the traditional infamy men attached to it, 
he had already accepted, and he faced it heroically. The 
promptings in his breast were strong and irrepressible. 
He had something to say, whoever might hear. Among 
the faces turned upon him was there one with a touch 
of sympathy in the glance? It mattered little. He told 
them who he was, and then with the breath that was left 
him came the inborn sentiment we now carve in bronze 
and marble — the burning thought and emotion that filled 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 129 

his soul and broke out in words that move the souls of 
all who read them: 

"l ONLY REGRET THAT I HAVE BUT ONE 
LIFE TO LOSE FOR MY COUNTRY.'^ 

Many years elapsed before this martyr-like sacrifice 
met with any general recognition. It could not have been 
otherwise. Official mention of the case at the time was 
out of the question. Hale was engaged on secret and 
delicate business, and the result, whether favorable or 
unfavorable, it was not for the army to know. While 
nothing could be said or done — the execution, under 
military law, being entirely justifiable — it would appear 
that Washington was somewhat disturbed by the occur- 
rence. Did he feel a certain responsibility in the case? 
Whatever may have passed between himself, Knowlton, 
and Hale, he alone could give final permission enabling 
the latter to pass beyond the American lines. Hale was 
a Continental officer. As the situation, however, justified 
almost any sacrifice, Washington would entertain no com- 
punctions on that score. For the moment indignation pre- 
vailed at headquarters, and officers of the staff would 
have enjoyed the capture of someone on a similar errand 
in their own camp to hang in return. Colonel Tench 
Tilghman, the aid already mentioned, happened to be 
then engaged in a confidential correspondence with Wil- 
liam Duer, chairman of a New York Revolutionary com- 
mittee, in regard to the disposition of certain tories who 
had been arrested for organizing within the State terri- 
tory. The State authorities being unwilling to go to 
extremes in the matter, one will find in Tilghman's manu- 
scripts this reply which he sent to Duer, October 3, 1776: 
"I am sorry that your convention do not think themselves 
legally authorized to make Examples of those Villians 



130 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

they have apprehended; if that is the Case, the well- 
affected will be hardly able to keep a watch upon the ill. 
The General is determined, if he can bring some of them 
in his hands tinder the Denomination of Spies, to execute 
them. General Howe hanged a Captain of ours be- 
longing to Knowlton's Rangers who went into New York 
to make Discoveries. I don't see why we should not 
make Retaliation."^ A few of these tories having been 
taken to camp, Duer implored Tilghman: "In the name 
of Justice hang two or three of the Villians you have 
apprehended. They will certainly come under -the De- 
nomination of Spies." All were in the mood to visit 
vengeance somewhere, but proofs of guilt were wanting. 

Not until more than a century after the event does any 
word come to us of the anguish it brought to Hale's home 
at Coventry. The stricken father, writing to his brother 
Samuel, at Portsmouth, a few months later, stating what 
reports had reached him, expresses his loss in his own 
homely way, full of the deepest feeling — "a child I sot 
much by, but he is gone." It was hard to bear — one of 
the great trials of his life, as he tells us." For years 
after, we are told, members of the family could not speak 
of it. Between the brief lines of Enoch Hale's diary we 
may read how far he himself was overcome. Nathan 
was his favorite brother. He was riding about the 
country, visiting and preaching, when the news reached 
him. On September 30 he makes the entry :^ 

1 Italics the author's, who had an opportunity of examining these 
manuscripts some years ago. 

- This letter of Deacon Hale's appears in the Appendix. It was long 
supposed to be lost, but was fortunately recovered very recently. It is 
one of the more important of the new contributions to the Hale corre- 
spondence, and is noticed again in the next chapter in another connection. 

3 The diary is printed at the end of a published address on Nathan 
Hale by the late Rev. Edward Everett Hale, delivered at Groton, 
Connecticut, September 7, 1881. Boston: 1881. 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 131 

Afternoon. Ride to Rev. Strong's, Salmon Brook. 
Hear a rumor that Capt. Hale belonging to the east 
side Connecticut River, near Colchester, who was edu- 
cated at college, was sentenced to hang in the enemv's 
lines at New York, being taken as a spy, or reconnoiter- 
ing their camp. Hope it is without foundation. Some- 
thing troubled at it. Sleep not very well. 

October 15, the rumor was confirmed: 

Call at Squire William Wolcott's. Get a pass to ride 
to New York. Saturday returned to Granville. Friend 
Lyman gone to the Camp at New York. Accounts 
from my Brother Captain are indeed melancholy! That 
about the second week of September, he went to Stam- 
ford, crossed to Long Island (Dr. Waldo writes) and 
had finished his plans, but, before he could get off, was 
betrayed, taken, and hanged without ceremony. . . . 
Some entertain hope that all this is not true ; but it is 
a gloomy, dejected hope. Time may determine. Con- 
clude to go to camp next week. 

Crushed by these reports and anxious to know all, 
Enoch repaired to Washington's army at White Plains, 
reaching it two days before the battle and making this 
final note : 

October 26. — Go to camp. See Officers of Col. 
Webb's regiment, and talk some of my brother. He 
went to Stamford and crossed over the sound to Long 
Island. The next account of him by Col. Montezuxe 
[Captain Montressor] with a flag, that one Nathaniel 
Hale, was hanged for a spy, September 22. Aide-de- 
camp Webb with a flag, informs that, being suspected 
by his movements that he wanted to get out of New 
York, was taken up and examined by the general, and, 
some minutes being found with him, orders were imme- 
diately given that he should be hanged. When at the 
gallows he spoke and told that he was a Captain in the 



132 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Continental army, by name Nathan Hale, Some 
deserters asserted the fact, and described his person. 

Lieut. said he saw a woman that said she was 

then in New York, saw and knew him hanging, having 
been before acquainted with him. . . . 

The home memorial that appeals with special tender- 
ness is the earliest one — the quaint and primitive head- 
stone in the burial-ground of his birthplace, set up about 
a century ago by the loving hands of Hale's family. 
Small and unpretentious, cut from the ledges of the 
neighborhood, and hardly observed in the presence of the 
public monument on another site, it holds a story in its 
silent companionship with the graves around and the 
fading landmarks and traditions of the old town which 
most of all we would wish to read. Its simple inscrip- 
tion is impressive : 

Durable stone preserve the monumental record. 
Nathan Hale, Esq., a Capt. in the army of the 
United States, who was born June 6th, 1755, 
and received the first honors of Yale College, 
Sept., 1773, resigned his life a sacrifice to his 
Country's liberty at New York, Sept. 22d, 
1776. Etatis 22d. 

Four years after his death, the slumbering memory of 
Hale was revived by the capture of Andre. Proofs 
enough then. While Hale's execution could not have 
affected the disposition of Andre's case, it is certain that 
officers of the army placed the two on the same footing. 
Nearly all of Hale's comrades were still in the field, and 
he could not be forgotten. If the American captain was 
a spy, so was this British prisoner, whatever his rank or 
plea. It was Tallmadge who first reminded Andre of 
his much-loved classmate and his capture in the British 
lines in 1776. "Do you remember the sequel of the 



HALE IN THE BRITISH LINES 133 

story?" he asked. "Yes," said Andre, "he was hanged 
as a spy. But you surely do not consider his case and 
mine ahke?" "Yes; precisely similar," said Tallmadge, 
"and similar will be your fate." From that date — 
1780 — the names of Hale and Andre have been almost 
invariably associated by writers on the Revolution, and 
their characters and mission compared and contrasted. 

Among our earlier scholars and poets, Dwight remem- 
bered his lamented student-friend with deep feeling and 
appreciation. Hale may have heard him read from the 
pages of his "Conquest of Canaan" while he was com- 
posing it at the college. The stately epic opens with 
scenes in the camp of the redoubtable Joshua. Before 
the chieftain lies a heathen city, and toward it he sends 
the faithful captain, Zimri, to spy out its defenses. 

In night's last gloom (so Joshua's will ordained) 
To find what hopes the cautious foe remained, 
Or what new strength allied, increased their force, 
To Ai's high walls the hero bent his course. 

With him on the enterprise went his trusted companion, 
Aram. 

Aram, his friend, 
With willing footsteps shared the dangerous way; 
In virtue joined, one soul to both was given. 

As they approached the city a lurking enemy pierced young 
Aram to the heart, while Zimri cut the assailant down in 
a quick but unavailing effort to protect his comrade. 
"Fond virtue" failed to save. When Dwight heard of 
Hale's fate, "emotions of regard," as he states, prompted 
him to associate his memory with the martyr of his own 
creation; and at this point he inserted the passage in his 
poem, so often quoted: 



134 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Thus, while fond virtue wished in vain to save, 

Hale, bright and generous, found a hapless grave. 

With genius' living flame his bosom glowed. 

And Science lured him to her sweet abode; 

In Worth's fair path his feet adventured far, 

The pride of Peace, the rising hope of War; 

In duty firm, in danger calm as even — 

To friends unchanging, and sincere to Heaven. 

How short his course, the prize how early won. 

While weeping Friendship mourns her favorite gone. 

With this tribute from one of the worthiest men of the 
time yvt close these pages. Such testimony to Hale's 
character, aspirations and promise, and the testimony of 
friends and foes alike to the brand of his patriotism and 
the spirit of his sacrifice, present a life to be remembered. 
The shortness of its years is immaterial — on the contrary, 
its charm and its suggestion. There can be power in 
youth as well as In manhood. Historical names and 
careers commanding our respect and admiration exist In 
profusion — to the honor of human nature be It said. But 
with Hale there Is something rarer — he Is endeared to us. 
We are embalming his memory In the customary forms, 
but It also appeals most touchlngly as a personal heirloom. 



VIII 

PRESERVATION OF HALE'S MEMORY— OTHER 
POINTS OF INTEREST 

As there are several points of interest — some of them 
disputed points — and various minor matters and details 
connected with Hale's career, not introduced into the 
main narrative, they are noticed in the present, concluding 
chapter. We refer to such topics as-the preservation of 
Hale's memory, his last letter, the Phoenix and the Asia, 
miniature and profile of him, Hempstead's letter, place 
and circumstances of Hale's capture and execution, 
alleged betrayal by a relative, tributes and memorials, 
and other points. 

Preservation of Hale's Memory 

That Hale's name and fate are but infrequently men- 
tioned in the records of the time is not surprising. The 
statement sometimes made that Washington's army as 
such was affected by his death is without foundation. Nor 
could Washington himself be expected to mention him, as 
he did not. In 1776 few officers were known outside of 
their immediate state or regimental commands. Hale's 
execution as a spy was not likely to place him in the heroic 
light of to-day, except among his personal friends and 
some others, who were acquainted with the circumstances. 
Even in his immediate circle there were doubtless those 
who felt that he had made a mistake, that the situation 
did not demand the sacrifice, and that to make much of 
his martyrdom might appear to be an exaltation of the 



136 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

role of a spy. Time would do his character justice; and 
so Hale's fate passed out of mind as one of the sadder 
"casualties" of the campaign — the casualty list of his 
Nineteenth Regiment, 1776, bearing the regulation entry: 
"Nathan Hale — Capt — skilled — 2 2d September." 

For a time in 1780 and after, as stated, Hale's memory 
was revived by the arrest of Andre. His comrades 
recalled him, and possibly it was one of them who con- 
tributed the following first-known reference to himself, 
or to the two together, in print. ^ It appeared in the 
Boston Independent Chronicle for May 17, 178 1, and 
the fact that it was reprinted in the London Remem- 
brancer in 1782 adds to its interest. The extract is given 
as read in England: 



The generous Americans seemed to forget the nature of 
[Andre's] attempt, in the regard they paid to his accomplishments 
as a Man and a Soldier: And as he was supported in his last 
scene by seeing respect and compassion in every countenance and 
in every action of those into whose hands he had fallen. — 

But while we pay the debt of humanity to our enemies, let us 
not forget what we owe to our friends. About four years ago, 
Capt. Hale, an American officer, of a liberal education, younger 
than Andre, and equal to him in sense, fortitude, and every manly 
accomplishment, though without opportunities of being so highly 
polished, voluntarily went into the city of New York, with a view 
to serve his invaded country. He performed his part there with 
great capacity and address, but was accidentally discovered. In 
this trying circumstance he exhibited all the firmness of Andre, 
without the aid of a single countenance around him that spoke 
either respect or compassion, and though every thing that was 

1 An earlier newspaper letter in regard to Hale, noticed later, 
appeared in February, 1777, but it speaks mainly of his alleged betrayal. 
One or two brief notices, merely giving the news from camp that one 
Hale had been executed, were printed in Connecticut and other papers 
about a week after his death. 



PRESERVATION OF HALE'S MEMORY 137 

said or done to him was adapted to make him feel that he 
was considered as a traitor and a rebel. Andre appeared great 
in not contesting the clear grounds upon which he was con- 
demned, and in refusing to employ the absurd and frivolous 
pleas that Clinton would have put into his mouth. Hale, 
though not at all disconcerted, made no plea for himself, and 
firmly rejected the advantageous offers made him by the enemy 
upon condition of his entering into their service. Andre ear- 
nestly wished the mode of his death might have been more like 
that of a soldier; but consoled himself by observing, that in 
either way it would be "but a moment's pang." Hale, calm and 
collected, took no notice of either of those circumstances. Andre 
as he was going to die, with great presence of mind and the most 
engaging air, bowed to all around him, and returned the respect 
that had been and was still paid to him ; and said : "Gentlemen, 
you will bear witness that I die with the firmness becoming a 
soldier." Hale had received no such respects, and had none to 
return; but just before he expired, said, aloud: "I am so satisfied 
with the cause in which I have engaged, that my only regret is, 
that I have not more lives than one to offer in its service." 

This had its passing interest. Hale's case must have 
been known to several members of the court that tried 
Andre, and Lafayette is said to have admitted in later 
life that the former had some influence on the result.^ 
That the general recalled him appears from this passage 
in his "Memoirs," published by his family: 

It is impossible to express too much respect or too deep regret 
for Major Andre. The fourteen generals [Lafayette, one] who had 
the painful task of pronouncing his sentence, the Commander-in- 
Chief, and the whole American army, were filled with sentiments 

1 Sargent, in his Life of Andre, p. 354, notices this report but dis- 
credits it. Some pretended defense made by Andre at his trial, in which 
he compares his case with Hale's appears in Potter's Monthly Magazine, 
Vol. VI. It claims to be taken from the official record of the proceedings, 
but the printed minutes do not contain it and the defense is not accepted 
as genuine. Andre, though not in New York when Hale was executed, 
had heard of his case, as he told Tallmadge. 



138 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

of admiration and compassion for him. The conduct of the Eng- 
lish in a preceding circumstance had been far from similar. 
Captain Hale, of Connecticut, a distinguished young man, beloved 
by his family and friends, had been taken on Long Island under 
circumstances of the same kind as those that occasioned the death 
of Major Andre; but instead of being treated with the like respect, 
to which Major Andre himself bore testimony, Captain Hale was 
insulted to the last moment of his life. "This is a fine death for 
a soldier!" said one of the English officers who were surrounding 
the cart of execution. "Sir," replied Hale, lifting up his cap, 
"there is no death which would not be rendered noble in such a 
glorious cause." He calmly replaced his cap, and, the fatal cart 
moving on, he died with the most perfect composure. 

In 1785, we have Dwight's tribute in his "Conquest of 
Canaan," but it will not be for a generation after Hale's 
death that his name becomes embodied in anything like 
a permanent historical or literary form. In 1799, Miss 
Hannah Adams, of Dedham, Massachusetts, published 
her "Summary History of New England," to which Hull 
contributed his first account of Hale. This officer, who 
had served with marked distinction to the very close of 
the Revolution, 1783, was at this date a resident of New- 
ton, Massachusetts, a man of affairs In the State, judge 
of one of the courts and major-general of the militia. It 
is more than probable that he wrote his account In 1796- 
97, hardly more than twenty years after Hale's death, 
when he was In the prime of life and the events and expe- 
riences of the war were still fresh In his memory. Miss 
Adams, one of our pioneer historians, a lover of lltera; 
ture and history, a quiet, gentle, earnest lady, a pains- 
taking worker, threatened with blindness, states that she 
had finished her work two years before publication. Hull 
wrote In the dignified style of the time, omitting personal 
references and details, such as he Introduced Into his 
"Memoirs" years later, and which have been given on 



PRESERVATION OF HALE'S MEMORY 139 

page 124. As this account of 1797-99 was the founda- 
tion of almost everything written about Hale during the 
next half-century, and remains our principal authority 
to-day, we give it in full, although largely a repetition, for 
the sake of the record: 

General Washington [says Hull], applied to col. 
Knowlton, who commanded a regiment of light infantry, 
which formed the van of the American army, and desired 
him to adopt some mode of gaining the necessary infor- 
mation. Col. Knowlton communicated this request to 
captain Nathan Hale, of Connecticut, who was then a 
captain in his regiment. 

This young officer, animated by a sense of duty and 
considering that an opportunity presented itself, by which 
he might be useful to his country, at once offered himself 
a volunteer for this hazardous service. He passed in dis- 
guise to Long Island, examined every part of the Brit- 
ish army, and obtained the best possible information 
respecting their situation and future operations. 

In his attempt to return he was apprehended, carried 
before Sir William Howe, and the proof of his object 
was so clear, that he frankly acknowledged who he was, 
and what were his views. 

Sir William Howe at once gave an order to the pro- 
vost marshal to execute him the next morning. 

This order was accordingly Executed in the most un- 
feeling manner, and by as great a savage as ever dis- 
graced humanity. A clergyman, whose attendance he 
desired, was refused him; a bible for a few moments 
devotion was not procured, although he requested it. 
Letters, which, on the morning of his execution, he wrote 
to his mother,^ and other friends, were destroyed ; and 
this very extraordinary reason was given by the provost 
marshal, "that the rebels should not know that they had 

1 As Hale's own mother was not then living, possibly this should be 
"brother." Enoch or his father would naturally be his first thought. 



140 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

a man in their army who could die with so much firm- 
ness." 

Unknown to all around him, without a single friend 
to offer him the least consolation, thus fell as amiable 
and as worthy a young man as America could boast, with 
this, as his dying observation, "that he only lamented, 
that he had but one life to lose for his country." 

Should a comparison be drawn between major Andre 
and captain Hale, injustice would be done to the latter, 
should he not be placed on an equal ground with the for- 
mer. Whilst almost every historian of the revolution has 
celebrated the virtues, and lamented the fate of Andre, 
Hale has remained unnoticed, and it is scarcely known 
such a character ever existed. 

Miss Adams published an abridgment of her history 
for young persons, in London, in 1805, and again at 
Boston, in 1807. On the title-page of the latter the 
announcement is made that it is "now used in the prin- 
cipal schools in this town," The account of Hale is not 
materially abridged and in her apparent desire to im- 
press his memory upon the pupils, she includes among 
the questions in the appendix: "When was Captain Hale 
executed for a spy, and how did he behave in his last 
moments?" For a few years at this period Hale would 
seem to have been better known to Bostonian young 
people than to readers in Connecticut. 

There followed presently Abiel Holmes' "Annals," 
Niles' well-known "Weekly Register," and a new history 
of the Revolution by Mrs. Mercy Warren, of Plymouth, 
all mentioning Hale. Niles, in 1812, quotes Hannah 
Adams' account, Hull's, in full, with the remark that it 
celebrates "the virtues of a character too much forgotten 
by his countrymen." He also gives Dwight's tribute. In 
1829, Mr. Samuel L. Knapp published his "Lectures on 
American Literature" with notices of prominent charac- 
ters. Of Hale he says, "It is time that we should be famil- 



PRESERVATION OF HALE'S MEMORY 141 

iar with his reputation. This staking one's life and repu- 
tation together — and staking them for love of country 
... is the highest of all mortal resolves." In 1820, a 
few old pensioners meeting at dinner at Hartford remem- 
bered their comrade with the toast: "Captain Nathan 
Hale; the blood of such martyrs is the sure seed of future 
patriots and heroes." 

As we near the middle of the century, or from about 
1832 to 1856, we find Hale coming into wider recogni- 
tion. During this period his name enters more promi- 
nently into our history and literature. Biography, poetry, 
and memorial will preserve it. One writer, signing him- 
self "L" in the American Historical Magazine for Jan- 
uary, 1836, runs the thread of continuity further back. 
To quote from his article: "The life, capture, and exe- 
cution of Nathan Hale, an early and distinguished 
victim in the cause of his country, was by the early his- 
torians passed over in silence and neglect. For many 
years after he met his fate, his name was forgotten, or 
scarcely remembered, except by his mourning relatives 
and intimate acquaintances. It is but a few years since 
(and to her honor be it mentioned) Hannah Adams 
first embalmed his memory and revived his name and 
worth in the recollection of his ungrateful countrymen; 
since which time, the historic muse adorns her page with 
the name of Nathan Hale, a martyr in the Cause 
of Liberty. Nor will his youth — his name — his vir- 
tues — his courage — his devotion to his country, or his 
cruel and untimely catastrophy, be omitted by any future 
historian. Now by common consent Hale is placed in 
the Pantheon." 

Two others who remembered Hale, contributed to, or 
are quoted in, the same magazine, as referred to on pages 
37 and 38. The Plaindealer, a new weekly journal, at 
New York, edited by William Leggett, to be recalled as 



142 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

an associate of William Cullen Bryant, contained a brief 
but appreciative editorial on Hale, December 24, 1836; 
and the Knickerbocker Monthly, early in 1838, devoted 
a general article to him. In the former there was an apt 
comparison with Andre: "Hale undertook an enterprise 
that bristled with danger, Andre was stimulated by the 
promise of high reward." Nothing contributed more at 
this period toward awakening interest in American his- 
tory than the "Library of American Biography," edited 
by Mr. Sparks, later President of Harvard College. His 
third volume, on Benedict Arnold, 1835, includes some 
carefully prepared and interesting pages on Hale. Sparks 
had access to Hale's diary and a few of his letters, and 
corresponded with Colonel Tallmadge on the subject of 
his work, Thompson's valuable "History of Long 
Island," first published in 1839, contains an excellent 
notice of Hale. He and Mr. Onderdonk, of Jamaica, 
were among the first to bring out the traditions connected 
with Hale's alleged capture at Huntington. 

Following these contributions came, in time, memorials 
and biographies. In 1835-36 a movement was inaugu- 
rated to have Congress erect a monument to Hale at 
Coventry, his birthplace. Failing in this, the people of 
the town, assisted by the State, in 1846, set up the appro- 
priate shaft now standing in the Coventry cemetery. 
Since then two bronze statues have been erected at Hart- 
ford, tablets may be found here and there, and Hale's 
schoolhouses at East Haddam and New London have 
been restored as historical memorials. In 1856, Mr, 
I. W. Stuart, of Hartford, issued the first biography of 
Hale, in two editions, which was welcomed and widely 
reviewed as a timely and worthy tribute to the martyr- 
spy. The reviewer of the book in Putnam's Magazine, 
at New York, was impressed with Hale's sacrifice: "His 
death proved what his life had only indicated. It showed 



PRESERVATION OF HALE'S MEMORY 143 

in him a true heroic greatness, which could, in calm dig- 
nity, endure to die wronged and unasserted. The com- 
mon pathway to glory is trodden with comparative ease; 
but to go down to the grave high-spirited but insulted, 
technically infamous, unfriended in the last great agony, 
with an all-absorbing patriotism, baffled and anxious, and 
burning for assurance of his country's final triumph — 
thus to have done and borne in unfaltering dignity, was 
the ultimate criterion and evidence of a genuine nobility 
of nature. Had this sharp ordeal been spared, the man's 
strong, true spirit might have remained ever unrecog- 
nized." 

At his college Hale has been a bright memory. The 
traditions and associations of the Linonia Society, in 
which he was so greatly interested, would alone have 
kept it so during its long existence. The earliest trib- 
ute to him from a college student that we have been 
able to find, is an article in the Yale Literary Magazine 
for June, 1839, based upon the Coventry address of Mr. 
Judson, printed two years before. It gives a sketch of 
his life and fate, and closes with an offering in poetry. 
On the Commencement program for July, 1844, appears 
among the subjects, a "Poem, Nathan Hale," by James 
Austin Sheldon, Rupert, Vermont. Among the sub- 
scribers to the Coventry monument were Professors 
Theodore Dwight Woolsey and Benjamin Silliman, Hon. 
Roger S. Baldwin, Dr. -ZEneas Munson, and other 
graduates. 

The event that more firmly welded Hale into Yale 
literature and remembrance was the centennial anniver- 
sary of the Linonia Society, held July 27, 1853, during 
Commencement week. It was a notable affair. The 
oration was delivered by William Maxwell Evarts, the 
eminent lawyer of New York, and subsequently Secretary 
of State under President Hayes. The poem by Francis 



J 44 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Miles Finch, later judge of the New York Court of 
Appeals, was the feature of the occasion. Of some length, 
it dwelt upon distinguished graduates who belonged to 
the Society. Upon the roll "names gleam lilce pearls." 
Some won the civic wreath, others crossed "a zone of 
waters and braved the world," and others fell upon the 
field. Continuing, Mr. Finch held his audience in rapt 
attention with the stanzas on Hale so much admired and 
so often quoted : 

And one there was — his name immortal now — 
Who died not to the ring of rattling steel, 
Or battle-march of spirit-stirring drum, 
But, far from comrades and from friendly camp, 
Alone upon the scafEold. 

To drum-beat and heart-beat 

A soldier marches by ; 
There is color in his cheek, 

There is courage in his eye, 
Yet to drum-beat and heart-beat 

In a moment he must die. 

By starlight and moonlight 

He seeks the Briton's camp. 
He hears the rustling flag, 

And the armed sentry's tramp. 
And the starlight and moonlight 

His silent wanderings lamp. 

With slow tread and still tread 

He scans the tented line, 
And he counts the battery guns 

By the gaunt and shadowy pine ; 
And his slow tread and still tread 

Give no warning sign. 



PRESERVATION OF HALE'S MEMORY 145 

The dark wave, the plumed wave! 

It meets his eager glance; 
And it sparkles 'neath the stars 

Like the glimmer of a lance : 
A dark wave, a plumed wave, 

On an emerald expanse. 



A sharp clang, a steel clang! 

And terror in the sound ; 
For the sentry, falcon-eyed. 

In the camp a spy hath found ; 
With a sharp clang, a steel clang. 

The patriot is bound. 

With calm brow, steady brow, 

He listens to his doom ; 
In his look there is no fear 

Nor a shadow trace of gloom ; 
But with calm brow and steady brow 

He robes him for the tomb. 

In the long night, the still night, 

He kneels upon the sod; 
And the brutal guards withhold 

E'en the solemn Word of God ! 
In the long night, the still night. 

He walks where Christ hath trod. 

'Neath the blue morn, the sunny morn, 

He dies upon the tree ; 
And he mourns that he can lose 

But one life for Liberty; 
And in the blue morn, the sunny morn, 

His spirit-wings are free. 



146 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

His last words, his message words, 

They burn, lest friendly eye 
Should read how proud and calm 

A patriot could die, 
With his last words, his dying words, 

A soldier's battle-cry! 

From Fame-leaf and Angel-leaf, 

From monument and urn. 
The sad of Earth, the glad of Heaven, 

His tragic fate shall learn ; 
And on Fame-leaf and Angel-leaf, 

The name of Hale shall burn ! 

In the Linonia account of the celebration, which was 
held in former Alumni Hall, the compiler says: "The 
three founders of our Library were honored in the north- 
west corner of the hall, which was decorated with por- 
traits of Timothy Dwight, formerly President, and James 
Hillhouse, for fifty years the Treasurer of Yale College, 
while the name of Nathan Hale was placed between 
these portraits, and surmounted by national flags in allu- 
sion to his patriotic life and death. "^ In the early manu- 
script lists of books in the library It appears that Hale's 
contributions were "Travels of Cyrus," "Elements of 
Criticism," and the "Spectator." He joined with a few 
others In the purchase of the two latter. 

The often expressed wish that a bronze statue of Hale 
might stand on the college Campus is about to be realized. 
The memorial has been executed by Mr. Bela Pratt, of 
Boston, and Is to be erected under the auspices of the 
University Corporation and alumni. 

1 These three Linonians were always regarded as the true founders of 
the Society's library, which is still maintained, on account of their inter- 
est in it and personal contributions to its shelves. The library was 
started, however, a few months before Hale's connection with the 
Society, the first librarian being student Lockwood, elected July 16, 1770. 



PRESERVATION OF HALE'S MEMORY 147 

Beyond his native State of Connecticut, which has thus 
honored him, residents of New York City, as the place 
of Hale's execution, have long felt an interest in his fate 
and have followed with a statue to his memory. Mr. 
Lossing, in his "Two Spies," speaks of a movement in 
1880 with which the present writer was familiar. Dur- 
ing his visit to this country in 1878, Dean Stanley, of 
London, was surprised to find no memorial of Andre 
marking the spot where he was buried. Mr. Cyrus W. 
Field, the famous projector of the first Atlantic tele- 
graph cable, offered to erect one. Protests immediately 
appeared in newspapers, coupled with a call for a memo- 
rial to Hale, toward which three or four individuals 
subscribed as many hundred dollars. Mr. Field, himself 
a member of an old Connecticut family, put up the Andre 
mark and later came forward for Hale. To the librarian 
of the New York Historical Society he wrote as follows, 
September 17, 1880: 

My dear Sir: 

I am glad to hear that it Is proposed to erect a monument to 
Nathan Hale. Many years ago I joined with others in such a 
memorial at Coventry, Conn., where he was born. But one ought 
to be erected in this City, and if possible on the very spot where 
he died. That spot you have, I understand, ascertained to be at, 
or very near, the Armory of the Seventh Regiment. What an 
inspiration would a monument there be to our j^oung soldiers! 
There ought to be inscribed on it his own immortal words, "I 
only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." If 
the New York Historical Society will obtain permission to have 
a monument erected there, I will, with pleasure, bear the whole 
expense. 

I remain 

Very truly your friend 

Cyrus W. Field. 



J48 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

The Society gratefully acknowledged and accepted the 
offer. While the erection or care of monuments was 
beyond its province, it made an exception in this case. 
"As an occasion," it replied, "for commemoration of 
genuine patriotism and self-sacrifice in which the sym- 
pathy of this whole nation is moved by every allusion to 
the event, the execution of Nathan Hale has no parallel 
in our history, and offers a theme worthy of the most 
exalted eloquence, and the most touching historic art." 

This project was without result, but in 1893 the patri- 
otic society of the Sons of the Revolution in New York, 
through its own independent initiative and action, erected 
the bronze statue of Hale, by MacMonnies, now standing 
in City Hall Park. The movement found no warmer 
supporters than the late president of the society, Mr. 
Frederick S. Tallmadge, grandson of Colonel Benjamin 
Tallmadge, Hale's intimate college friend, and the then 
secretary, Mr. James Mortimer Montgomery, of Revo- 
lutionary ancestry and now President of the General 
Society. To the devotion and unwearied energy of the 
latter, the city is under obligations for this appropriately 
placed and much-admired memorial. 

With the writer of 1 836, we may say that through liter- 
ature and sculpture, spontaneously expressing themselves 
at intervals since his death. Hale has come Into his 
destined niche. 



Hale's Last Letter — The "Phoenix'* and the "Asia" 

As far as known, the following Is the last of Hale's 
letters extant. It was written to his brother Enoch, a 
week before the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776, 
and shows his keen interest in all that was transpiring: 



HALE'S LAST LETTER 149 

New York, Aug. 20'^ 1776 
Dear Brother, 

I have only time for a hasty letter. Our situation has been 
such this fortnight or more as scarce to admit of writing. We 
have daily expected an action — by which means if any one was 
going, and we had letters written, orders were so strict for our 
tarrying in camp that we could rarely get leave to go and deliver 
them. — For about 6 or 8 days the enemy have been expected hourly, 
whenever the wind and tide in the least favoured. — We keep a 
particular look out for them this morning. The place and manner 
of attack time must determine. The event we leave to Heaven. 
Thanks to God ! we have had time for compleating our works 
and receiving our reinforcements. The militia of Connecticut 
ordered this way are mostly arrived. Col. Ward's Reg*^ has 
got in. Troops from the southward are daily coming. We hope 
under God, to give a good account of the Enemy whenever they 
choose to make the last appeal 

Last Friday night, two of our fire vessels (a sloop & schooner) 
made an attempt upon the shiping up the River. The night was 
too dark the wind too slack for the attempt. The shooner which 
was intended for one of the ships had got by before she discovered 
them ; but as Providence would have it, she run athwart a bomb- 
catch which she quickly burn'd The sloop by the light of the 
former discovered the Phoenix — but rather too late, — however she 
made shift to grapple her, but the wind not proving sufficient to 
bring her close along side, or drive the flames immediately on 
board, the Phoenix after much difficulty got her clear by cutting 
her own rigging. Sergt. Fosdick who commanded the above sloop 
and four of his hands were of my company, the remaining two 
were of this Reg*. The Gen^ has been pleased to reward their 
bravery with forty dollars each except the last man that quitted 
the firie sloop who had fifty. Those on board the schooner 
receive the same. I must write to some of my other brothers 
lest you should not be at home, remain your friend & Brother 

N. Hale. 

Mr. Enoch Hale. 

[Original in possession of estate of the late Rev. Edward Everett Hale.] 



ISO NATHAN HALE, 1776 

In connection with Hale's account of the attack on the 
Phoenix, we give that of Sir Hyde Parker, its Com- 
mander, as entered in the journal or "log" of the ship. 
This vessel had previously run by our batteries at Fort 
Washington at 183d Street, New York, covering the 
passage of the Hudson at that point, and at this time was 
"at single anchor four miles above the upper Fort York 
Island." The entry for August 17, 1776, runs: "Light 
air and Cloudy at 1 1 P. M. discover'd a vessel standing 
up the River, she being near the Rose's Tender hail'd 
her and gave orders for her to Fire into the vessel. In 
Five seconds the Rebel vessel Boarded the Tender, and 
was set fire to. By the light of this Vessel we discovered 
another standing towards us at a Cables length distance. 
Immediately order'd the Cable to be cut & commenced 
Firing upon the Fire ship; in Ten minutes afterwards she 
Boarded us on the Starboard Bow at which time the 
Rebels set Fire to the Train and left her. Set the Fore 
Topsail and Head sails which fortunately cast the ship 
and disengaged her from the Fire ship, after having been 
Twenty minutes with her Jibb Boom over our Gunwhale. 
The Rose's Tender was totally consumed; the same fate 
must have Attended the Phoenix had not the Steadiness 
of the Officers & Ship's Company saved her." — From 
Captain's Journal, H. M. S. Phoenix, London Record 
office. 

The story that Hale cut out a provision sloop under 
the guns of the man-of-war Asia, referred to on page 93, 
appears to have originated with Asher Wright, a member 
of Hale's company from Coventry, and his waiter in 
camp. It first came out in 1836 when Wright's memory 
was known to be failing. Stuart describes the alleged 
exploit and introduces an illustration. It is said to have 
occurred in the East River, but the Asia moved out of 
the river the day Hale's regiment arrived in New York 



MINIATURE AND PROFILE OF HALE 151 

and then fell down to the Narrows. The log of the 
vessel makes no mention of such an attack, and the details 
of the story, representing Hale as a volunteer and leader 
without authority, also discredit the account. On May 
31 General Putnam wrote to Washington that "our 
troops have taken a small sloop for going on board the 
Asia," but this occurred at Far Rockaway — a minor 
affair where the sloop's crew was seized for trying to 
smuggle provisions aboard the British ships. It is true 
that Marvin wrote to Hale, June 1 1, that he was obliged 
"for your particular history of the adventure aboard the 
prize." This may not necessarily mean that he was 
personally concerned in it. 

Alice Adams and Hale's Miniature — His Personal 
Appearance — Profile of Him 

It has been understood that a miniature of Hale was 
once in the possession of Alice Adams, as widow Ripley, 
and subsequently for a time, as Mrs. Lawrence. It is 
also claimed to have been in the hands of one of the 
latter's descendants until more recent times. Neither 
Mr. Gilbert, in 1836, nor Mr. Stuart, in 1856, traced 
it. One version of the fate of the miniature is given in 
the American Antiquarian for December, 1889: "Mrs. 
Lawrence possessed the only portrait of Nathan Hale 
that was ever made so far as known. It was a miniature 
on ivory. She kept it after she married Mr. Lawrence. 
One day not long after her marriage this miniature dis- 
appeared. No trace was ever found of it, and Mrs. Law- 
rence in her latter days once said that she always sus- 
pected that her husband destroyed it." Commenting on 
this, a descendant informed the present writer that "the 
story of the portrait, as related by the Antiquarian, is 
substantially correct, except that Mrs. Lawrence did not 



152 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

suspect her second husband of making away with it; it 
disappeared in some way, but her allusions to her hus- 
band's complicity were always made with a laugh. "^ It 
would be interesting to know when and where such a 
miniature was painted — possibly in New London when 
Hale was teaching school there, but hardly in camp after 
that. 

The Antiquarian also contains the following reference 
to Hale's personal appearance: "Mrs. Hastings, now a 
resident of Brooklyn (1889), is the granddaughter of 
the woman who was Nathan Hale's betrothed. She 
heard her grandmother speak many times of Nathan 
Hale, and remembers many interesting details regarding 
him, most of which have never reached history. Nathan 
was, her grandmother used to say, over six feet in height. 
He had a full and beautifully-featured face and a firm 
and sympathetic almost benign expression; his complex- 
ion was rosy; his hair was soft and brown, and his eyes 
light blue; his form was erect, slender, powerful, and 
remarkable for grace; he was an athlete in his college 
days, and could with ease leap out of one hogshead into 
another placed beside it; his chest was broad for his 
height and he was a great runner." This corresponds to 
the description Lossing, in his "Two Spies," states he 
received from Dr. Munson, who knew Hale, in 1848. 

There is a reference to a profile of Hale in the corre- 
spondence in the Connecticut Historical Society Library. 

1 At the time of the erection of the Hale Statue in the Capitol building 
at Hartford, 1887, there were living in that city two granddaughters of 
Alice Adams — Mrs. Dr. Hastings and Miss Elizabeth B. Sheldon. Our 
principal information respecting Hale's engagement has come down 
through these descendants, and the author has followed their versions 
in this work. In the Hartford Courant for June 16, 1887, there is a 
brief article on the subject as corrected by Miss Sheldon. The author, 
also, has MSS. notes from other descendants, and Mr. Stillman, who 
was personally acquainted with Alice Adams in her later years. 



MINIATURE AND PROFILE OF HALE 153 

Giving facts and traditions for Mr. Stuart's use In 1856, 
Mr. Ablel Abbot, already referred to, page 10, wrote as 
follows, his mother, niece of Nathan, having already 
mentioned it in a letter written about the same time: 

"The portrait of Capt. Nathan Hale on the chamber door," 
was merely a profile on the inner side of the only door opening 
into the north chamber, — near the middle of the upper pair of 
panels, extending partly on each panel, about the hight of a man 
standing. It was simply a head showing the front features of 
the face in profile, drawn about the size of life as though by 
means of a shadow on the door from a distant light, with one 
continuous strong line from neck over & to neck again, — black 
enough for ink yet not ragged as ink lines on wood often are — 
possibly made with a very black pencil. 

The door, she [Mrs. Abbot] thinks had never been painted. 
The house was built many years before ; but parts, still unfinished 
when she went to live there, were finished at different times after- 
wards. Allusions were still frequent to "The old house" then torn 
down, which had stood two or three rods to the southeast. 

The profile was always regarded in the family as taken for 
her uncle Nathan ; she does not recollect to have ever heard the 
fact either doubted or positively stated ; or to have known when 
or by whom it was taken, or whether considered a good likeness 
or otherwise ; or to have heard any criticism or even much con- 
versation respecting it. She says "probably less was thought of 
such things in those days than at present — besides, his image was 
so strongly impressed on their hearts they had no need of the 
profile as a remembrance, and, though sometimes alluded to, it 
was too nearly connected with his unhappy fate to permit them to 
say much about it." The profile remained without change so 
long as she resided there & for many years after, probably so long 
as any of the Hale family occupied the place. In her visits to 
Coventry she always went to the old homestead (until after the 
spring of 1820 the last time she ever remained over night at the 
house) generally if not always occupying that chamber; and she 
never noticed any change; if she had, it would have made an 
impression not to be forgotten. But on the completion of the 



J54 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Hale monument (1846) she with her son Harris & sister Nelson 
visited Coventry, and called at the old homestead and, mentioning 
the profile on the door with a request to see it, were kindly shown 
up, — when to her surprise she found it invisible; — the chamber, 
including of course the door, had been painted. 



Sergeant Hempstead and Hale 

The following letter from Hale's sergeant, Stephen 
Hempstead, contributed to the Missouri Republican, in 
1827, and reprinted in the Long Island Star on April 5 
of the same year, forms part of the Hale material we 
have to draw upon. This copy is from the Star: 

Revolutionary Incidents 
The Capture and Execution of Capt. Hale, in 1776 

Most of those who achieved our Independence are no more. 
The common age of man has passed since the days of '76, and 
"the time that tried men's souls." But a few have been permitted 
to live beyond that age, and these few are every year, nay, daily 
gathering unto their fathers. When the few surviving shall cease 
to be, the oft-told tale, by eye witnesses, of many interesting inci- 
dents of that glorious struggle, will soon become a traditional 
legend — a fable — and a tale; their authenticity lost, by growing 
time, and the real facts and circumstances clothed with so many 
accumulating and varying folds of fancy, and imagination, as to 
be no longer descernible. Impressed with this conviction, I have, 
Mr. Editor, thought it a duty every survivor of the Revolution 
owes to himself, and country, to contribute his mite to her glory, 
in communicating such matters as would be worth preserving ; and 
as you have already learnt, I had a share in the toils and sufferings 
of that period. I have noted two incidents, for my own satis- 
faction and the benefit of my children, which you are at liberty to 
publish. The first of these, is the capture and execution of Cap- 



HEMPSTEAD'S ACCOUNT OF HALE 155 

tain Nathan Hale, September, 1776, on New York Island — [the 
other I will communicate hereafter.]^ 

Captain Hale was one of the most accomplished officers, of his 
grade and age, in the army. He was a native of the town of 
Coventry, state of Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale College — 
young, brave, honorable — and at the time of his death a Captain 
in Col. Webb's Regiment of Continental Troops. Having never 
seen a circumstantial account of his untimely and melancholy end, 
I will give it. I was attached to his company and in his confidence. 
After the retreat of our army from Long Island, he informed me, 
he was sent for to Head Quarters, and was solicited to go over 
to Long Island to discover the disposition of the enemy's camps, 
&c., expecting them to attack New York, but that he was too 
unwell to go, not having recovered from a recent illness; that 
upon a second application, he had consented to go, and said I must 
go as far with him as I could, with safety, and wait for his return. 
Accordingly, we left our Camp on Harlem Heights, with the 
intention of crossing over the first opportunity; but none offered 
until we arrived at Norwalk, fifty miles from New York. In 
that harbor, there was an armed sloop and one or two row galleys. 
Capt. Hale had a general order to all armed vessels, to take him 
to any place he should designate : he was set across the Sound, in 
the sloop, at Huntington (Long-Island) by Capt. Pond, who com- 
manded the vessel. Capt Hale had changed his uniform for a 
plain suit of citizens brown clothes, with a round broad-brimmed 
hat, assuming the character of a Dutch school-master, leaving all 
his other clothes, commission, public and private papers, with me, 
and also his silver shoe buckles, saying they would not comport with 
his character of school-master, and retaining nothing but his Col- 
lege diploma, as an introduction to his assumed calling.^ Thus 

1 The second article was on the capture of the Groton fort by the 
British when Arnold set fire to New London in 1781. Hempstead was 
desperately wounded in the affair. The account is given in "Allyn's" 
book on the Groton fight. Stuart gives a good notice of Hempstead in 
the Appendix to his work. After the Revolutionary War the sergeant 
removed to the vicinity of St. Louis, where he lived and was highly 
respected for many years. 

2 As to Hale's "brown clothes," it is interesting to note the request he 
made of his brother Enoch in the postscript to his letter of June 3, 1776: 



IS6 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

equipped, we parted for the last time in life. He went on his 
mission, and I returned back again to Norwalk, with orders to 
stop there until he should return, or hear from him, as he expected 
to return back again to cross the sound, if he succeeded in his 
object. The British army had, in the mean time, got possession 
of New York, whither he also passed, and had nearly executed his 
mission, and was passing the British piquet guard between the lines 
of the two armies, within a mile and a half of his own quarters, 
when he was stopped at a tavern, at a place called the "Cedars." 
Here there was no suspicion of his character being other than what 
he pretended, until, most unfortunately, he was met in the crowd 
by a fellow-countryman, and an own relation (but a tory and a 
renegado,) who had received the hospitality of his board, and the 
attention of a brother from Captain Hale, at his quarters at 
Winter Hill, in Cambridge, the winter before. He recognized 
him, and most inhumanly and infamously betrayed him, divulging 
his true character, situation in the army etc. ; and having him 
searched, his diploma corroborated his relative's statement when, 
without any formality of trial, or delay, they hung him instanta- 
neously, and sent a flag over to our army, stating "that they had 
caught such a man within their lines, that morning, and had hung 
him as a spy." Thus suddenly and unfeelingly did they rush this 
j^oung and worthy man into eternity, not allowing him an hour's 
preparation, nor the privilege of writing to his friends, nor even 
to receive the last consolations of his religion, refusing to let the 

"Sister Rose talked of making me some Linen cloth similar to Brown 
Holland for Summer ware. If she has made it, desire her to keep it 
for me." — So far as we can confirm Hempstead's account his memory 
appears to have been quite accurate. We know there was a Captain 
Pond, commanding a sloop at Norwalk or vicinity and that two "rebel" 
sloops were in Huntington harbor about the time Hale crossed. We 
have stated our belief that Hale had his diploma, A.B. or A.M., with 
him in camp. Neither of his diplomas has come to light. His brown 
suit may have been made from the "Brown Holland" he mentions. 

Enoch Hale states that his brother crossed the Sound from Stamford. 
Hempstead says Norwalk, and he has been followed as being Hale's 
attendant. Enoch obtained his information in camp near White Plains, 
at a time in October when Hempstead was with the Rangers above 
Harlem. He could not have seen him then. The sloops were at Norwalk. 



PLACE OF HALE'S CAPTURE i57 

chaplain pray with him, as was his request. After parting with 
Captain Hale, of all these circumstances, I was authentically 
informed at the time, and do most religiously believe them. 

Such was the melancholy fate of Capt. Hale. While the stern 
rigor of military law justified his execution, (betrayed as he was, 
most foully, by this ungrateful relation and villainous tory,) yet, 
who that knew him as I did — embarked in the same hazardous 
enterprize, and had been together in the perilous service of the 
field — but would drop the tear of pity for his worth? It is true 
he died upon the "inglorious tree," not the death of the soldier; 
but it is likewise true, he suffered for his country's sake. And 
Andre died also the "death of a spy," but did he fill an inglorious 
grave? I do not mourn at the sympathy for the man, which was 
felt for Andre — in Europe and America — by the fair, and the 
brave — the friend and the foe — by America and by Briton. No! 
God forbid! — But I do think it hard, that HALE — who was 
equally brave, learned, young, accomplished, and honorable — 
should be forgotten on the very threshold of his fame, even by 
his countrymen ; that while our own historians have done honor 
to the memory of Andre, HALE should be unknown; that while 
the remains of the former have been honored, even by our own 
country, those of the latter should rest among the clods of the 
valley, undistinguished, unsought and unhonored. 

Stephen Hempstead, Sr. 

Note by Hempstead. — "The only historical notice I can find of this 
event, is in Mrs. Warren's History of the Rise and Progress of the 
American Revolution. Vol. H, p. 264." Hempstead then gives the 
Warren extract, which is of a general character, comparing Hale with 
Andre. Hempstead's letter was also reprinted in the Supplement to the 
Hartford Courant, for April 2, 1827. It omits the first few sentences 
and the quotation from Mrs. Warren's History. 

Place of Hale's Capture and Execution 

The people of Huntington, Long Island, patriotically 
honored the name of Hale in 1894 with the erection of a 
memorial column and fountain. The tradition that he 
was captured there on his way back to the American 



J 58 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

camp has been generally followed since Thompson's and 
Stuart's accounts appeared. Stuart's story based on local 
statements made out in his time, about 1846-50, is to the 
effect that upon his return to Huntington from the British 
camp. Hale went to a tavern at a place called the Cedars 
and there waited for a boat to take him across to Con- 
necticut. A boat presently appearing he hurried down to 
the shore only to find that it belonged to a British man- 
of-war whose crew, with leveled muskets, brought him to 
a halt and conveyed him back to their ship. In the boat 
there was a tory relative of Hale's who betrayed him and 
assisted in his capture. The captive was then sent to 
Howe's headquarters at New York. Thompson, Onder- 
donk, a well-known Long Island antiquarian, and two or 
three old men had previously given the boat incident with- 
out the tavern elaboration or the particular movements of 
the relative. The old men, Solomon Townsend, William 
Ludlam, and Solomon Wooden, represented that they 
heard of the capture at the time. One of them is said to 
have had the story from the very crew that arrested Hale. 
In 1776 these men would have been boys from ten to 
fifteen years of age. 

The main difficulty in the case is the presence, or 
rather absence, of the ship-of-war. The vessel named 
was the Halifax, already referred to, commanded by 
Captain Quarme. We have had its "log" in the London 
Record Office carefully examined and find nothing con- 
firmatory of the Huntington theory. At the time Hale 
would be making his way to that place, September 20 
and 21, the Halifax was sailing away from there and on 
the night of the 21st, when Howe's order states that Hale 
was "apprehended," she was at anchor at her previous 
moorings off City Island, some twenty-five miles distant 
up the Sound — her boats and two tenders with her. Her 
consorts, the Niger and Le Brune, were in the same vicin- 



■ PLACE OF HALE'S CAPTURE 159 

ity. At the mouth of the Sound, off Block Island and 
Montauk Point, the Cerberus, Merlin and Syren, were 
cruising "in company" on the dates named, as they had 
been for some time before. There were no other British 
ships in the Sound. 

We have seen in the previous chapter, page no, that 
the Halifax was off Huntington on September 17 and 18, 
looking for two rebel privateers. It was her first visit to 
that harbor. Finding nothing, to quote from her log, she 
"weighed and came to sail" on the i8th to return to 
City Island. On the 19th she was "turning to the 
West w*^," "Tacking occasionally" toward Hempstead 
Bay. On the 20th, under "Remarks at anchor off White- 
stone Point," we read: "First part fresh Breezes and 
Hazey middle and Latter light Breezes and Fair. P. M. 
at 3 came too off Hampsted Bay." Saturday, the 21st: 
"P. M. at 4 Weighed with the Kitty & Swift Tenders in 
company at 5 came too off Whitestone Bay . . . Lewis's 
House South — . . . at 1/^ past 1 1 came too off New 
Citty Isl^ - - Tenders in C°.''' 

The log makes no mention of the capture of a prisoner 
or a spy, although minor occurrences are given. The log 
of the Niger, then moored "off Whitestone," contains 
the entries, September 18: "At 8 A. M. Came on board 
two Deserters from the Rebel army sent them to Head 
Quarters"; September 20: "At 7 P.M. was hail'd from 
y^ N. Shore sent a Boat to D° which Return'd with a 
Rebel Officer a Deserter from their army. A. M. 
anchored here the Halifax from y^ E* w"^ sent y^ Rebel 
Officer Head Quarters." Clearly the log of the Halifax 
would have mentioned such a capture as the Huntington 
tradition makes out. 

Furthermore, the story, with its tavern scene, the mys- 
terious relative and Hale's joy on hearing of an approach- 
ing boat and walking down to meet it, requires good day- 



i6o NATHAN HALE, 1776 

light for its setting. Howe says the spy was seized in 
the "night." And as to the relative, if he were then a 
Commissary of Prisoners why should he be posted there, 
with no troops or ships guarding the place and rebel 
privateers hovering on the opposite shore? 

The Huntington tradition, in which Stuart himself does 
not appear to have had entire confidence, and for which 
Thompson gives as his authority "it is said," could well 
have been constructed out of hearsay from two different 
points. First, the Halifax was occasionally moored off 
Huntington from November, 1776, until about 1778. In 
1779 she was condemned as unserviceable. Captain 
Quarme may have heard of Hale's capture and execu- 
tion and spoken of it on shore at Huntington during these 
later visits. In after time a belief, founded on hazy and 
contradictory recollections, may have been current that 
he was the captor. Second, Sergeant Hempstead states 
in his account, already given, that he heard and believed 
at the time that Hale was captured at a tavern, at a 
place called the "Cedars," near the British picket lines on 
the Harlem front and that a tory relative recognized and 
betrayed him there. The letter of 1777, given under a 
following heading, is to the same effect, that is, that Hale 
was arrested and betrayed at the British lines on New 
York Island. In these statements we have the gist of 
the Huntington story — a tavern, the "Cedars," Hale 
attempting to escape, and betrayed by a relative. Hemp- 
stead's account, reprinted in the Long Island Star and the 
Hartford Cotirant, in 1827, several years before Thomp- 
son or Stuart wrote on Hale, associated with what 
Quarme might have said, could easily supply material for 
a local tradition. 

Stuart, in the preface to his work, mentions having 
statements or affidavits from one or more of the old men 
referred to, and "especially" the statement of Teunis 



SITE OF HALE'S EXECUTION i6i 

Bogart and Andrew Hegeman, who claimed to have seen 
Hale hanged on an apple tree near Colonel Rutgers' 
mansion, surrounded by spectators, including women who 
"sobbed aloud." But we now know that this statement 
is worthless — Hale having been executed nearly four 
miles above Rutgers'. We need more than such state- 
ments or affidavits. 

In the Huntington tradition everything depends upon 
the presence of the Halifax or some other ship. It is 
shown that there was no ship there. The weight of evi- 
dence is in favor of New York Island, or its immediate 
vicinity, as the place of Hale's capture. It is difficult to 
interpret Aid-de-Camp Webb's information differently, 
namely, as he told Enoch Hale, that Nathan "being sus- 
pected by his movements that he wanted to get out of 
New lork, was taken up and examined by the general 
and some minutes being found with him, orders were 
immediately given he should be hanged." The earliest 
mention of Hale's fate appears in a letter written from 
the Harlem Camp, September 26, only four days after 
his execution. The extract, published soon after in one 
or more Connecticut papers, reads: "One Hale, in New 
York, on suspicion of being a spy, was taken up and 
dragged without ceremony to the execution post, and 
hung up — Gen. Washington has since sent in a flag sup- 
posed to be on that account." In all the first references 
to Hale's fate there is no suggestion of the Huntington 
locality. 

As to the site of Hale's Execution — we have referred 
to the interest and significance attaching to it. It was 
within a short mile of Howe's headquarters at the Beek- 
man mansion, and in front of the Artillery Park of the 
army. As we have said on page 126, artillery was parked 
at two places, neither of them being mentioned until three 
weeks after the execution. Howe's orders first locate 



1 62 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

such a park at the Dove Tavern, Third Avenue and 
Sixty-sixth Street, on October 1 1 ; on the 29th, Earl Percy 
orders certain regiments to apply for cartridges "to the 
Artilery at Turtle Bay." As Turtle Bay was the site of 
a garrison artillery camp in 1766, as the Beekman 
mansion was much nearer to it than the Dove Tavern, 
as Montressor would naturally be, with other aids, at 
the mansion, or in "a marquee" on the grounds, and as 
Hale was taken from the marquee to the gallows, the 
natural inference would be that Turtle Bay was the site 
of the execution. This was the site given in the first 
edition of this work. 

Since its publication, however, in 1901, the author has 
found, among the maps in the British Museum, a topo- 
graphical sketch or survey of the greater part of New 
York Island and Brooklyn, showing the position of the 
British army during September-October, 1776. Although 
without date, names or description, its character and im- 
portance as throwing light on the point in question are 
obvious. It bears all the marks of the work of Captain 
Montressor, who made many such maps before and dur- 
ing the first years of the war. This survey shows, what 
was already known, that after landing on New York 
Island, September 15, Howe's army encamped in two 
lines between Turtle Bay, at Forty-fifth Street and 
Harlem. The first line or division, commanded by Sir 
Henry Clinton, encamped at different points from about 
Eighty-second Street to McGowan's Pass and westerly 
toward the Hudson. It was the advance of this division 
that took part in the battle of Harlem Heights, fought 
on the 1 6th. The second line, commanded by Earl Percy, 
and consisting of the Second and Sixth Brigades and the 
Brigade of Guards, ten regiments in all, encamped on the 
line of Seventy-third Street, between Third Avenue and 




Site of Hale's Execution, New York 

September 22, 1776 
References: 

1. Turtle Bay, Forty-fifth Street and East River, New York, where Hale's regiment landed 
on arrival from Boston, March 30, 1776. 

2. Beekman mansion, Howe's headquarters. Fifty-first Street and First Avenue. Hale 
probably condemned here. 

3. Quarters of Earl Percy, commanding second division, British Army. 

4. The Dove Tavern, Sixty-sixth Street and Third Avenue, where the Royal Artillery was 
parked. HERE HALE WAS EXECUTED. 

5. Brigade of British Guards 'as supposed), part of Percy's command. 

6. Second and Sixth brigades, under Percy, about Seventy-third Street, west of Third 
Avenue. 

7. Third and Fourth brigades, first division under General Clinton, about Eighty-second 
and Ninetieth Streets. 

8. Quarters of Sir Henry Clinton, "near Hellgate," as per order book. 

9. Clinton's advance troops: Light Infantry, Grenadiers, Highlanders and Hessians under 
Cornwallis. Some encamped above the line of the sketch. 

a a. Old post-road. New York to Albany and Boston, 
bb. Old Bloomingdale road, now Broadway. 

N. P..— Above map, a slightly enlarged photographic reproduction of original in British 
Museum. \'id. pp. 126, 162-163. 



SITE OF HALE'S EXECUTION 163 

the lake in Central Park. The Guards, apparently, en- 
camped by themselves a short distance below, on the 
line of Seventieth Street, near the present Normal or 
Hunter College. Just below the Guards on the main 
road and on the level ground adjoining the Dove Tavern, 
an encampment is marked, composed of two bodies, which 
we take to be the reserve Artillery and Engineer Corps. 
All the other troops and bodies in Howe's army are 
otherwise accounted for. No camps are marked below 
the tavern site — none at Turtle Bay. It is to be regretted 
that the map bears no legend or references, but the infer- 
ence seems to be justified that the encampment at the 
Dove was the Artillery Park at that date and the park in 
front of which Hale was executed. The sketch is drawn 
on too small a scale to represent artillery, as usual, with 
figures of guns. 

Furthermore, it is probable that Montressor, although 
an aid to Howe, still occupied his quarters, or marquee, 
with his own Engineer Corps, which usually accompanied 
the artillery. He did this at times in the next campaign. 
This would explain his presence at the Dove Artillery 
Park when Hale was executed. It would also appear that 
the quarters of Provost-Marshal Cunningham were at the 
same camp or park, his paraphernalia, evidently, being 
at hand there. During the campaign against Philadel- 
phia m 1777, the execution of British deserters and 
marauders took place, almost without exception, at the 
Artillery Park, which was generally near headquarters. 
Hale thus suffered at the usual site and in the usual way. 
The provost-guard around him was composed of a de- 
tail from Percy's division. The same division furnished 
the daily detail of guards for Howe's own quarters and 
Turtle Bay. 

A pen-sketch of one section of the new map, with the 



i64 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

author's references added, is here inserted for illustra- 
tion/ 

Hale's Betrayal by a Relative 

Following the news of Hale's execution, a report imme- 
diately spread among some of his friends in camp that he 
had been recognized and betrayed by a tory relative, then 
with the British army at New York. It is still repeated 
and credited. While the rumor has never been traced to 
a responsible source, its prevalence can readily be ex- 
plained. Mr. Stuart, Hale's first biographer, rejected 
the story upon what appeared to him satisfactory grounds. 
The present writer took the same view in his first edition, 
and finds confirmation in the references to the point that 
have since come to light. 

The report first appeared on February 13, 1777, in the 
Essex Journal, published at Newburyport, Mass., and 
was reprinted in the New London Gazette, of March 
14 following, and in one or two other papers. The 
account reads: 

The following is a genuine specimen of tory benevo- 
lence and may be depended upon as real matter of fact: 

Samuel Hale, late of Portsmouth N. H., after his 
elopement from thence, visited an uncle in Connecticut, 
where he was hospitably entertained ; but as his uncle was 
a Whig, and had a son, a young gentleman of liberal 
education, and most amiable disposition, who strongly 
felt for his bleeding country, and being active in the mili- 
tary way was urged and prevailed on to take a commis- 
sion in the Continental Army; consequently Samuel was 

1 This map goes to confirm Mr. Kelby's discovery of the location of 
an artillery camp at Dove Tavern (page 118). Through him and Mon- 
tressor, we are novf assured beyond question of the site of Hale's execu- 
tion. Mr. Kelby's interesting letter on the subject may be found incor- 
porated in Mr. John Austin Stevens' account of Hale in the New York 
Herald, for November 25, 1893, when the MacMonnies statue of the 
young patriot was dedicated at City Hall Park. 



ALLEGED BETRAYAL OF HALE 165 

obliged to conduct with caution and counterfeit, as well 
as he could, a Whiggish phiz, while he tarried, which 
was, however, but a short time before he made his escape 
to General Howe in New York. Sometime after this 
Captain Hale, at the request of the General, went into 
New York in disguise, and having nearly accomplished 
his designs, who should he meet but his above-said cousin 
Samuel, whom he attempted to shun ; but Sam knew him 
too well. Captain Hale soon found he was advertised, 
and so particularly described, that he could not get 
through Long Island. He therefore attempted to escape 
by King's Bridge and so far succeeded as to get to the 
outer guard, where he was suspected, apprehended, car- 
ried back and tried, and yet would have been acquitted, 
had not his afFectionate and grateful cousin Samuel ap- 
peared and made oath that he was a captain in the Contin- 
ental Army, and that he was in there as a spy ; in conse- 
quence of which he was immediately hung up. However, 
at the gallows, he made a sensible and spirited speech ; 
among other things, told them they were shedding the 
blood of the innocent, and that if he had ten thousand 
lives, he would lay them all down, if called to it, in 
defence of his injured, bleeding Country. 

The relative referred to was Nathan's cousin, Samuel 
Hale. He was the eldest son of John Hale, of Glouces- 
ter, Massachusetts, or "Cape Ann," as the locality was 
often called. In the records of Harvard College, where 
he graduated in 1766, the date of his birth is given as 
March 29, 1746, making him nine years older than 
Nathan. The latter states in his diary, November 22, 
1775, that he tried "to obtain a furlough to go to Cape 
Ann and keep Thanksgiving, but could not succeed." He 
would probably not have found his cousin in his uncle's 
family there, as Samuel Hale was then married and an 
established lawyer at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
where his uncle, Major Samuel Hale, lived. Nathan's 



i66 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

visit to this uncle in 1773 is mentioned on page 40 and he 
must have seen something of his cousin Samuel then. 
When the Revolution broke out this Samuel opposed the 
movement and became a pronounced loyalist. What we 
know of him thereafter is gathered from the summary of 
his case as a pensioner in England after the war, given in 
the loyalist records of which the New York Public 
Library possesses copies. In Vol. II, "Temporary Sup- 
port — Old Claims," for October-December, 1782, Samuel 
Hale is represented as having been a practicing barrister 
in New Hampshire before the war, with an estate of 
£500, and an income of £200 or more. He had been 
a member of the town council at Portsmouth and 
deputy register to the probate court. He "quitted" 
his profession in 1775, being compelled to leave "after 
having been repeatedly confined" and, with other loy- 
alists, made his way to the British army at Boston, 
Upon its evacuation of the town and departure to Hali- 
fax, Hale went with it. A news item in the Connecticut 
Journal, April 3, i']"]6, received from Cambridge, says: 
"We hear that J. Wentworth, Esq" [loyalist Governor 
of New Hampshire] . . . Edward Lutwyche; Samuel 
Hale, of Portsmouth, Attorney, and about fifty others, 
"in the grand ministerial flight of the 17th instant, all 
went off from Boston in a fishing schooner." Subse- 
quently, in 1776, he followed Howe's army to New York 
and was there appointed "Deputy Commissary of Prison- 
ers," remaining in the service about two years. 

Going to England he sought for occupation and was 
offered a judgeship in South Carolina, then partly occu- 
pied by British troops; but declining this on account of 
the climate, he applied for the office of Solicitor General 
at Quebec. He was recommended as "very fit for it," but 
apparently his ignorance of the French language pre- 
vented his appointment. Among those who certified to 



ALLEGED BETRAYAL OF HALE 167 

his loyalty were Governor Wentworth, Mr. Galloway, 
and a Mr, Livins, the latter stating that he had known 
Samuel Hale many years and thought him "a very sensible 
man." Occasionally, "as she wants them," he sent remit- 
tances to his wife in America. His death occurred in 
England in 1787, the same year his father died at 
Gloucester. He appears to have been a man of ability 
and character, with promise of distinction. 

It was evidently known by Nathan Hale's companions 
that his cousin was in the British Camp. Bitterness 
against tories ran high at the time, and in their grief and 
indignation over their comrade's fate his friends could 
readily indulge in conjectures or suspicions as to the pos- 
sible conduct of the cousin. A renegade tory relative and 
traitor, as they would regard him, could be charged with 
anything. The rumor gathered and took more than one 
form. Enoch Hale had heard, October 15, through a 
letter written by Dr. Waldo, that Nathan had been "be- 
trayed," though the relative was not mentioned. This was 
Dr. John Waldo, then surgeon in Colonel Huntington's 
regiment. As he came from Coventry, his interest and 
anxiety would lead him to notice, and perhaps credit, 
reports of this kind. Hempstead, as we have seen, heard 
a story of Hale's betrayal at the British picket lines and 
declared that he religiously believed it. Then came the 
Essex Journal account, quoted above, and finally, sixty or 
seventy years later, the Huntington version. All may be 
referred to contemporary rumors and beliefs in camp; 
none of them stand on any tangible basis. 

The recently recovered letter from Deacon Richard 
Hale, Nathan's father, referred to, is important as show- 
ing that the Newburyport account of February 13, 1777, 
was not wholly based on "fact," as the writer alleged. 
Deacon Hale says to his brother, to whom he was writing: 
"You desired me to inform you about my son Nathan — 



i6S NATHAN HALE, 1776 

you have doubtless seen the Newberry Port paper that 
gives the acount of the conduct of our kinsman Sam" Hale 
toards him at York — as to our kinsman being here it is 
a mistake." We have seen that Samuel Hale was a refu- 
gee in Howe's Boston camp nearly a year before. He 
did not visit Coventry as stated, and there put on "a 
Whiggish phiz." It may be noticed also that Hempstead 
had heard something to the same effect, that Samuel Hale 
had visited and been hospitably entertained by Nathan at 
his quarters in the American camp. Hale says nothing 
about this in his diary, and upon the face of it, it could 
not be true. So far the story is materially weakened. 
Furthermore, Deacon Hale wrote that, as to Samuel's 
alleged conduct, or betrayal, of Nathan at New York, 
"Mr. Cleveland of Cape Ann first reported it near us I 
sopose when on his way from the Armey where he had 
been Chapling home as what was probley true." This 
was Rev. Ebenezer Cleaveland, chaplain of Colonel 
Jonathan Ward's Massachusetts regiment, who had just 
left camp on a furlough. The returns show that he was 
present with his regiment on September 21, the day before 
Hale's execution, and that on October 4 he was absent 
on leave. As he was a native of Canterbury, Connecticut, 
he doubtless knew of the Coventry Hales and would 
inquire for particulars as to Hale's fate. Among other 
current rumors, he heard of the betrayal, but could 
report it on his way, near Coventry, as being only prob- 
ably true. This is a material point brought out by the 
father's letter. Evidently the betrayal was accepted as 
what one might expect from a tory relative. There is no 
evidence that the story came across the lines. The whole 
seems to have rested on a willing disposition to believe it. 
We have no more than what was then regarded as the 
probability in the case. 

On the other hand it may be pointed out that neither 



ALLEGED BETRAYAL OF HALE 169 

Captain Hull nor Enoch Hale mentions this belief. These 
two, our best authorities, tell us that Hale, like Andre, 
was condemned on the evidence of the papers found on 
his person, in connection with his suspicious movements 
which led to his arrest. "Some minutes being found 
with him, orders were immediately given that he should 
be hanged." 

The report was investigated at the time by Hon. Sam- 
uel Hale, of Portsmouth, uncle to the loyalist Samuel, 
who came to the conclusion that it was "a malicious fabri- 
cation without the least shadow of foundation" [Ports- 
mouth Journal, September 23, 1826]. Some of the Cov- 
entry relatives refrained from speaking of the matter, 
feeling that it was "buried in uncertainty" and could be 
traced to nothing beyond "mere report." The late Rev. 
Edward Everett Hale makes this reference to it in a note 
to his Groton, Connecticut, address on Hale, Memorial 
Day, September 7, 1881 : "In the rage and distress of the 
excitement of the time, the rumor spread that Hale was 
betrayed by a tory kinsman. ... I know no evidence for 
It beyond ' 'tis said.' I know that my father did not be- 
lieve the story of treachery; I do not think his father 
did." 

In the Appendix to Mr. Stuart's work, there is an inter- 
esting correspondence in the matter, including a letter 
from the "kinsman" Samuel Hale himself, to his wife, 
in which among other things, he denounced the infamous 
newspaper publication charging him with "ingratitude," 
referring obviously to the betrayal accusation. 

Officers as Spies — Major Edmonston 

Very few officers are known to have acted as spies, on 
either side, during the Revolution. Hale and Andre ap- 
pear to have been the only ones, regularly commissioned 



170 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

in the American Continental or the regular British army, 
who were executed. A Lieutenant Palmer was hanged 
by General Putnam's orders In 1777, but he was a tory. 
A few private soldiers and civilians were caught and suf- 
fered, A case of some interest comes to light through the 
records of the "American Loyalists," preserved In Lon- 
don, copies of which have been made for the New York 
Public Library. It there appears that Major, subse- 
quently Lieutenant-Colonel, William Edmonston, of the 
British Forty-eighth Regiment of Infantry, stationed in 
Canada, served as a spy for General Howe in 1776-77. 
Before the war Edmonston owned a large farm near Ger- 
man Flats, New York. In September, 1776, he was made 
prisoner by the Tryon County Committee and sent to 
General Schuyler, at Albany, who In turn reported his 
case to General Washington. The latter ordered his de- 
tention until he could be regularly exchanged. In reality 
he was a spy at that time or later. The above records 
show that: "Lt. Col. Edmonston was employed on very 
special & Secret Services by S"" W™ Howe on the same 
footing as the late Major Andre, was several times taken 
prisoner & frequently In eminent danger of his Life, & 
his estates would have been secure, but from a discovery 
of the services he had performed being made public by 
51" W™ Howes Correspondence being laid before the 
House of Commons. He claims £650 for money ex- 
pended by him when on Secret Services." Also: "S"" W" 
Howe certifies as to his exertion In the Army & being sent 
out by him to S*" G. Carleton & that his fortune was con- 
fiscated. — Many Certificates as to his services & that he 
would have been executed If he had been taken by the 
Rebels." — American Loyalists. Audit office Transcripts. 
Vol. II, p. 103. — N. Y. Public Library. 

In the Saratoga Campaign, 1777, Captain Thomas 
Scott of the British Fifty-third Regiment, went in dis- 



HALE NAMESAKES 171 

guise, as a messenger from Burgoyne to Sir Henry Clin- 
ton at New York. He passed through the territory 
occupied by our troops under Gates and Putnam, and, if 
captured, could have been treated as a spy. His letter 
giving his experiences appears in Fonblanque's "Bur- 
goyne." 

Nathan Hale, Class of ij6g 

In the year Nathan entered college another Nathan 
Hale graduated, class of 1769. No relationship between 
them has been traced. The latter came from Long- 
meadow, Massachusetts, and subsequently settled as a 
lawyer at Canaan and Goshen, Connecticut. In the first 
edition of this work, pp. 38-39, the author credited our 
Hale, the younger, with the ownership of two works on 
divinity, which it appears, however, must have belonged 
to his namesake. The latter before taking up law had 
fitted himself for the ministry and would naturally possess 
such works. ^ On the fly-leaf of one there is written 
Nathan Hale's Book, 1768, and in the other the same, 
with the year 1771. The autograph in the latter, a 
"Treatise on Regeneration, by Peter Van Mastricht," 
closely resembles that of the younger Hale at that date, 
and seems to have misled one of its early owners and 
subsequent purchasers. It was catalogued in the famous 
Brinley collection as having once belonged to the martyr- 
spy, and was sold and bought as such. The author has 
since been shown two other books with similar fly-leaf 
entries, but the writing in these is clearly not that of our 
Hale. Still another contemporary Nathan Hale was 
the colonel of a New Hampshire regiment during the 
Revolution. 

1 Dexter, Yale Biographies, etc., Vol. Ill, p. 338. 



APPENDIX 

HALE'S CORRESPONDENCE, ARMY DIARY, ETC., 
BIBLIOGRAPHY, INDEX 

This Is the correspondence of young men — most of 
them, Hke Hale, hardly past the age of twenty-one. 
It Is an exceptional collection, never Intended for publi- 
cation, but for that reason of much Interest to-day. How- 
ever expressed — It was the style and habit of the time — 
the letters are full of fact and sentiment and often curious 
in punctuation and phraseology. We have here both the 
college and the everyday youth of 'Seventy-six. 



Hale's Letters and Papers 
Hale to His Classmate Thomas Mead at New Haven^ 

This is the first opportunity I have had of acknowledging your 
favour of last winter. I was, at the receipt of your letter, in 
East Haddam (alias Modos), a place, which I at first, for a long 
time, concluded inaccessible, either by friends, acquaintance or 
letters. Nor was I convinced of the contrary untill I re[cei]ved 
yours, & at the same time, two others from Alden and Wyllys. 
Which made me, if possible, value your letter the more. — 

It was equally or more difficult, to convey anything from 
Modos. True, I saw the bearer of yours (Mr. Medcaff) some few 
days before he set out for New Haven, and desired the favour of 
se[n]ding some letters by him. Accordingly I had written letters 
to you, Alden and Wyllys with one or two others; but upon 
enquiry, I found that Mr. Medcaff was gone too soon for me. 
Since which I have scarce had an opportunity of sending towards 
N. Haven, — 

I want much to receive a letter from you and a full history of 
the transactions of the winter. I have heard many flying reports, 
but know not what to conclude as to the truth of them. Upon 
the whole I take it for certain, that the Quintumviri have been 
massacred, but in what manner I have not been sufficiently 
informed. — From what I can collect, I think probable you have 
had some high doings this winter, but expect a more full account 
of these matters in your next." 

I am at present in a School in New London. I think my situa- 
tion somewhat preferable to what it was last winter. My school 
is by no means difficult to take care of. It consists of about 30 
scholars; ten of whom, are Latiners and all but six of the rest are 

1 Throughout this correspondence the long "s" of the time was gen- 
erally used by the writers. For the sake of uniformity the modern short 
"s" is substituted in the print. 

2 This probably refers to incidents at college, perhaps connected with 
his society, Linonia. 



i-je NATHAN HALE, 1776 

writers. I have a very convenient school-house, and the people are 
kind and sociable. — I promise myself some more satisfaction in writ- 
ing and receiving letters from you, than I have as yet had. I know 
of no stated communication, but without any doubt, opportunities 
will be much more frequent, than while I was at Modos. — For the 
greater part of the last year, we were good neighbours, and I 
always thought, very good friends. Surely so good on my part, 
that it would be matter of real grief to me, should our friend- 
ship cease. — The only means for maintaining it is constant writing: 
in the practice of which I am ready most heartily to concur with 
you; and do hope ever to remain, as at present, 
Your Friend and 

Constant Well-wisher 
New London, May 2^ Nathan Hale 

A.D. 1774, 

Mr. Mead. 

[From the original now in possession of Mr. William A. Read, 
of New York.] 



Hale to His Brother Enoch 

[New London, Se]pt 8'^ 1774 
Dear Brother, 

I have a word to write and a minute to write it in. I received 
yours of yesterday this morning. Agreable to your desire I will 
endeavour [to] get the cloth and carry it over Saturday. I have 
no news. No liberty-pole is erected or erecting here; but the 
people seem much more spririted than they were before the alarm. 
Parson Peters of Hebron, I hear, has had a second visit paid him 
by the sons of liberty in Win [d] ham. His treatment, and the 
concessions he made I have not as yet heard. I have not heard 
from home since I came from there. 

Your loving Brother 

Nathan Hale. 
M-- E Hale Lyme. 

[Original in possession of estate of the late Rev. Edward Everett Hale.] 



APPENDIX 177 

Hale to His Uncle, Samuel Hale, Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire 

New London, Conn. Sept 24th, 1774 

[This letter is given in full on page 49.] 



Hale to Dr. JEneas Munson, New Haven 

New London, November 30, 1774. 
Sir, 

I am happily situated here. I love my employment; find many 
friends among strangers; have time for scientific study, and seem 
to fill the place assigned me with satisfaction. I have a school of 
more than thirty boys to instruct, about half of them in Latin ; and 
my salary is satisfactory. During the summer I had a morning 
class of young ladies — about a score — from five to seven o'clock; 
so you see my time is pretty fully occupied, profitably I hope to my 
pupils and to their teacher. 

Please accept for yourself and Mrs. Munson the grateful thanks 
of one who will always remember the kindness he ever experienced 
whenever he visited your abode. 

Your friend, 

Nathan Hale. 

[From Lossing's "Two Spies," where the last sentence is given in 

facsimile. Mr. Lossing states that he copied it from the original in 

possession of Dr. Munson, son of the person to whom the letter is 
addressed.] 



Hale to the Proprietors of Union School, New London 

John Winthrop Esq*" Cap* Joseph Packwood 

Cap* Guy Richards Cap* William Packwood 

Duncan Stewart, Esq^ Cap' Richard Deshon 

Capt Robin" Mumford M^ John Richards 

M"" Roger Gibson Richard Law Esq"" 

Winthrop Saltonstall Esq*" M"" Timothy Green 



J78 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Cap* David Mumford M'' Samuel Belden 

Thomas Mumford Esq"" Jeremiah Miller Esq. 

M'- Silas Church Cap* Russell Hubbard 

Cap* Michael Mellaly M-" Nath^ Shaw, Jun"" 

Cap* Thomas Allen Cap* John Crocker 

Cap* Charles Chadwick Docf Thomas Coit 

Gentlemen Proprietors of Union School are desired to meet 
at the School House next Friday Evening (Feb, 24*^) 6 O'clock, 
agreable to adjournment from the 3*^ Inst, to the rising of the 
Court. The matters proposed to be considered were, the Act of 
Incorporation — the choice of proper Officers as Committee Clerk 
&c, — procuring a Bell, and what else might be thought proper. 
The occasion of the Adjournment was the smallness of the Num- 
ber present, — That there might not be the same occasion for 
another, more early Notice was directed to be given, by. Gentle- 
men 

Your Humble Servant 

N Hale 
Wednesday Feb. 22^ A.D. 1775 

No Meeting on account of bad Weather.^ 

[From the original in possession, 1901, of the late Mr. W. F. 
Havemeyer, New York.] 



Hale to the Proprietors of Union School 

Gentlemen, 

Having received information that a place is allotted me in the 
army, and being inclined, as I hope for good reasons to accept it, 
I am constrained to ask as a favour that which scarce anything 
else would have induced me to: which is, to be excused from 
keeping your school any longer. For the purpose of conversing 
upon this, and of procuring another master, some of your number 

1 In the correspondence respecting Hale, Connecticut Historical Society 
archives, mention is made of a school-meeting call issued by him in 
December, 1773. He was then at East Haddam. 



APPENDIX 179 

think ft best there should be a general meetting of the Proprietors. 
The time talked of for holding it, is 6 O'Cl this afternoon at the 
School House. The year for which I engaged will expire within 
a fortnight, so that my quitting a few days sooner I hope will 
subject you to no great inconvenience. 

Schoolkeeping is a business of which I was always fond ; but 
since my residence in this Town, every thing has conspired to 
render it more aggreeabble. I have thought much of never quitting 
it but with life ; but at present there seems an opportunity for more 
extensive public service. 

The kindness expressed me by the people of the place but espe- 
cially the proprietors of the School, will always be very gratefully 
remembered by 

your Humble Serv* 

Nathan Hale 
Friday, July 7'^ [1775] 

[From the original now in possession of Hon. Simon Gratz, 
Philadelphia, Pa.] 



Hale to Betsey Christophers, at New London 

Camp Winter Hill Oct^ W^ 1775 
Dear Betsey 

I hope you will excuse my freedom in writing to you, as I 
cannot have the pleasure of seeing & conversing with you. What 
is now a letter would be a visit were I in New London but this 
being out of my power suffer me to make up the defect in the 
best manner I can. I write not to give you any news, or any 
pleasure in reading (though I would heartily do it if in my power) 
but from the desire I have of conversing with you in some form 
or other. 

I onece wanted to come here to see something extraordinary — 
my curiosity is satisfied. I have now no more desire for seeing 
things here, than for seeing what is in New London, no, nor half 
so much neither. Not that I am discontented — so far from it, 
that in the present situation of things I would not except a fur- 



i8o NATHAN HALE. 1776 

lough wer[e] it offered me. I would only observe that we often 
flatter ourselves with great happiness could we see such and such 
things; but when we actually come to the sight of them our solid 
satisfaction is really no more than when we only had them in 
expectation. 

All the news I have I wrote to John Hallam — if it be worth 
your hearing he will be able to tell you when he delivers this. 
It will therefore not [be] worth while for me to repeat. 

I am a little at a loss how you carry at New London — Jared 
Starr I hear is gone — The number of Gentlemen is now so few 
that I fear how you will go through the winter but I hope for 
the best. 

I remain with esteem 

Y"" Sincere Friend 
& Hble Svt. 

N. Hale 

[Original now in possession of Yale University Library.] 



Hale to His Brother Enoch at Coventry 

New York, May 30^^, 1776. 
Dear Brother 

Your favor of the 9th. of May, and another written at Nor- 
wich, I have received — the former yesterday. You complain of 
my neglecting }'0u; I acknowledge it is not wholly without rea- 
son — at the same time I am conscious to have written you more 
than once or twice within this half year. Perhaps my letters 
have miscarried. 

I am not on the end of Long Island, but in New York, 
encamped about one mile back of city. We have been on the 
Island, and spent about three weeks there, but since returned. As 
to Brigades: we spent part of the Winter at Winter Hill in Genl. 
Sullivan's — thence we were removed to Roxbury, and annexed to 
Genl Spencer's — from thence we came to New York in Genl 
Heath's; on our arrival we were put in Genl. Lord Sterling's; 



APPENDIX i8i 

here we continued a few days, and were returned to Genl. Sulli- 
van's; on his being sent to the Northward, we were reverted to 
Lord Sterling's, in whose Brigade we now remain. In the first 
detachment to the Northward under Genl. Thomson, Webb's 
regiment was put down ; but the question being asked whether we 
had many seamen, and the reply being yes, we were erased and 
another put down in our place. 

We have an account of the arrival of Troops at Halifax, 
thence to proceed on their infamous errand to some part of 
America. 

Maj, Brooks informed me last evening, that in conversation 
with some of the frequenters at Head Quarters he was told that 
Genl. Washington had received a packet from one of the sherrifs 
of the city of London, in which was contained the Debates at 
large of both houses of Parliament — and what is more, the whole 
proceedings of the Cabinet. The plan of the summer's campaign 
in America is said to be communicated in full. Nothing has yet 
transpired ; but the prudence of our Genl. we trust will make 
advantage of the Intelligence. Genl Gates (formerly Adjt. Genl. 
now Maj'' Genl) is gone to Philadelphia, probably to communi- 
cate the above. 

Some late accounts from the northward are very unfavorable, 
and would be more so could they be depended on. It is reported, 
that a fleet has arrived in the River ; upon the first notice of which 
our army thought it prudent to break up the siege and retire — 
that in retreating they were attack'd and routed. Numbers kill'd, 
the sick, most of the cannon and stores taken. The account is 
not authentic: We hope it is not true. 

It would grieve every good man to consider what unnatural 
monsters we have as it were in our bowels. Numbers in this 
Colony, and likewise in the western part of Connecticut, would 
be glad to imbrue their hands in their Country's Blood. Facts 
render this too evident to admit of dispute. In this city such as 
refuse to sign the Association have been required to deliver up 
their arms. Several who refused to comply have been sent to 
prison. 

It is really a critical Period. America beholds what she never 
did before. Allow the whole force of our enemy to be but 30,000, 



1 82 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

and these floating on the Ocean, ready to attack the most 
unguarded place. Are they not a formidable Foe? Surely they 
are. 

[Nathan Hale.] 

[As given in Stuart.] 



Hale to His Brother Enoch at Coventry 

New York, June 3^ 1776. 
Dear Brother, 

Your Favour of the 9* of May and another written at Nor- 
wich I have received — the first mentioned on the 19'^ of May 
ult— 

You complain of my neglecting you — It is not, I acknowledge 
wholly without Reason — at the same time I am consscious to have 
written to you more than once or twice within this half year. 
Perhaps my letters have miscarried. 

I am not on Long Island, as you suppose; but in New York, 
encamped about 1 mile back of the City. We have been on the 
Island, and spent about three weeks there but since returned. 

As to Brigades; at the beginning of the Campaign we were at 
Winter Hill in Gen^ Sullivan's; from thence we were removed 
to Roxbury & annexed to Gen' Spencers; we marched from that 
place here in Gen' Heath's; on our arrival we were put in Gen' 
Lord Sterling's; here we continued a few days and we returned 
to Gen' Sullivan's, on his being ordered to the northward we 
reverted to Lord Sterling, in whose Brigade we still remain. 

In the first detachment to Canada under Gen' Thomson, Webb's 
Regiment was put down; but the question being asked whether 
we had many Seamen & the answer being yes, we were erased and 
another put down in our place. — Our Continuance or removal 
from here depends wholly upon the operations of the War. 

It gives pleasure to every friend of his country to observe the 
health which prevails in our army. Docf Eli (Surgeon of our 
Reg*^) told me a few days since, there was not a man in our 



APPENDIX 183 

Reg*^ but might upon occasion go out with his Firelock. Much 
the same is said of other Regiments. 

The army is every day improving in Discipline & it is hoped 
will soon be able to meet the enemy at any kind of play. My 
company which at first was small, is now increased to eighty & 
there is a Sergeant recruiting who I hope has got the other 10 
which compleats the Company. 

We are hardly able to judge as to the numbers the British 
army for the Summer is to consist of — undoubted sufficient to 
cause us too much bloodshed. 

Genl. Washington is at the Congress being sent for thither to 
advise on matters of consequence. 

I had written you a compleat letter in answer to your last but 
missed the opportunity of sending it. 

This will probably find you in Coventry — if so rem [em] her 
me to all my friends — particularly belonging to the Family. For- 
get not frequently to visit and strongly to represent my duty to 
our good Grand-mother Strong. Has she not repeatedly favoured 
us with her tender most important advice? The natural Tie is 
sufficient but increased by so much goodness, our gratitude cannot 
be too sensible — I always with respect remember M"^ Huntington 
& shall write to him if time admits. Pay M"" Wright a visit for 
me. Tell him Asher is well — he has for some time lived with 
me as a waiter. I am in hopes of obtaining him a Furlough soon 
that he may have opportunity to go home, see his friends, and get 
his summer clothes. 

Asher this moment told that our Brother Joseph Adams was 
here yesterday to see me, when I happened to be out of the way. 
He is in Col Parson's Reg^ I intend to see him today and if 
possible by exchanging get him into my company. 

Yours affectionately N. Hale. 

P. S. Sister Rose talked of making me some Linen clothe 
similar to brown Holland for summer ware If she has made it, 
desire her to keep it for me. My love to her the Doctor and 
Little Joseph. 

[Original in possession of estate of the late Rev. Edward Everett Hale.] 



i84 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Hale to His Brother Enoch at Coventry 

New York, August 20, 1776 
[This letter appears on page 149.] 



Hale's Address before the Linonia Society 

valedictory to the ''sirs'' 
Kind Sirs, 

Sorrow which hath for a long time spared to molest this peace- 
ful society with its disagreeable presence, has we see at length 
approach'd it and bedim'd your countenances, with an unusual 
kind of sadness. Sorrow is indeed unpleasing; yet, when the cause 
of it is so just as at present, how shall we attempt to restrain it? 
That the Gentlemen who have now taken their leave of us were 
very much beloved by us, our inward emotions, as well as counte- 
nances, do very strongly testify. They have been rendered dear to 
us, not only by a long and intimate acquaintance, but by the strict- 
est bonds of unity and friendship. How shall we ever forget 
the many agreeable evenings we have spent in their company? or 
by what new revolutions, do we hope to arrive to that happy period, 
when contented with our happiness, we shall wish no more the 
return of such delightful scenes? The high opinion we ought to 
maintain of the abilities of these worthy Gentlemen, as well as 
the regard they express for Linonia & her Sons, tends very much 
to increase our desire for their longer [conjtinuence. Under 
whatsoever character w^e consider them, we have the greatest reason, 
to regret their departure. As our patrons we have shared their 
utmost care & vigilence in supporting Linonia's cause, & protect- 
[ing] her from the malice of her insulting foes. As our bene- 
factors we have pertaken of their liberality, not only in their 
rich & valuable donations to our library, but, what is still more, 
their amiable company & conversation. But as our friends, what 
inexpressible happiness have we experienced in their disinter [est] ed 
love & cordial affection? We have lived together, not as fellow- 
students, and members of the same college but as brothers & 



APPENDIX 185 

children of the same family; not as superiors & inferiors, but 
rather as equals & companions. The only thing which hath 
[given] them the pre-eminence, [is] their superior knowledge in 
those arts & sciences, which are here cultivated, & their greater 
skill & prudence in the management of such important affairs as 
these which conce[rn] the good order & regularity of this society. 
Under the prudent conduct of these our once worthy patrons, but 
now parting friends, things have been so wisely regulated, as that 
while we have been entertained with all the pleasures of familiar 
conversation, we have been no less profited by our improvements 
in useful knowledge & literature. But why should I expatiate 
upon past pleasures & enjoyments? We are all sensible, alas! too 
sensible of [them] so greatly are our minds impressed, with the 
remembrance of them that the thought of their now ending, is 
almost insupportable. But, why have our friends been so unkind, 
as to add to our sorrow, by representing to our minds, in the most 
affecting light, our former intimate friendship, & inflaming in our 
breasts a still greater desire for their longer continuance? We 
wish for it, but in vain. This day has brought about the unwel- 
come period, the mela[n]choly prospect of which has so long 
sadden'd our Hearts. We must now take leave, a final leave, of 
our dearest friends. Fain would we avoid undertaking; but it 
cannot be we are obliged to perform it. Since therefore it must 
be so, let us submit. Let us if possible for a moment put on cheer- 
ful & benevolent countenances, while we shall return return to 
our parting friends, for the last time, our sincerest thanks for the 
numberless kindnesses they have shewn us, since we have the 
honour of being called Linonia's Sons. 

Kind and generous Sirs, It is with the greatest reluctance, we 
are now all oblig'd to bid a last adieu to you our dearest friends. 
Fain would we ask you longer to tarry, but it is otherwise deter- 
mined, and we must comply. Accept then our sincerest thanks, 
as some poor return for your disinterested zeal in Linonia's cause, 
& your unwearied pains to suppress her opposers. I understand 
that at the time, when you were receiv'd by our Ancestors into 
this society, our best beloved Linonia was brought very low, by 
the oppressive hand of her numerous opposers. But since the time 
of your admission she hath been continually encreasing both in 



i86 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

dignity & power, arising from step to step, toward her antient 
Splendor. And hath at length arrived to that flourishing condition 
in which we now behold her. To you is owing, in a great measure, 
our present prosperity. (What adequate returns can we make 
for these signal favours?) But in addition to all the rest you 
have now given us those instructions, by the observation of which, 
we may make Linonia still to flourish, & shine forth with superior 
splendor. Receive kind Sirs as a very poor return our sincere 
thanks for your numberless kindnesses. Be assur'd that we shall 
be spirited in Linonia's cause & with steadiness & resolution strive 
to make her shine with unparalleled lustre. And althoug[h] 
Plutonia should make use of every sordid & low-Hv'd scheme, to 
raise herself & rival our fame, rely upon it, that we will exert 
ourselves in the use of all proper means to humble her pride & 
reduce her to her nothing. And you may firmly believe, we will 
do our best endeavours to render ourselves worthy our illustrious 
Ancestors. Be assured Gentlemen, that your memory will always 
be very dear to us: that although hundreds of miles should inter- 
fere, you will always be attended with our best wishes. May 
providence protect you in all your ways, & may you have pros- 
perity in all your undertakings. May you live long & happily, & 
at last die satisfied with the pleasures of this world, and go hence 
to that world where joy shall never cease & pleasures never end. 

Dear Gentlemen farewell ! 

[From the Linonia MSS. records, Yale University Library, among 
which is a book containing a number of similar addresses delivered by 
students on other occasions. Hale at this date, the spring of 1772, was 
closing his Junior year, and the above is his reply to the parting address 
of Billings, who represented the outgoing "Sirs."] 



Hale to His Classmate, Benjamin Tallmadge (in Rhyme) 

Friend Tallmadge, 
Although a first attempt prov'd vain, 
I'm still resolv'd my end t' obtain. 
My temper's such I can give out. 
In what I 'tempt for one bad bout. 



APPENDIX 187 

Were this the case, you'd never see 

Lines, formed to feet and rhyme from me. 

But being sadly mortify'd 

At thoughts of laying it aside; 

Reviv'd a little by your letter, 

With hopes of speeding better, 

At length I venture forth once more, 

But fearing soon to run ashore. 

My thoughts had once convey'd you home 
In safety to your wonted dome; 
But gladly went a second time, 
Attended by your muse and rhyme. 
That you are there, the single proof, 
You bring, to me, is quite enough. 
But here, I think you're wrong, to blame, 
Your gen'rous muse, and call her lame. 
For when arriv'd no mark was found. 
Of weakness, lameness, sprain or wound. 
As soon as stop'd, away he trips 
(And that without or spurs or whips) 
With me in charge, (a grievous load!) 
Along the way she lately trode. 
In all, she gave no fear or pain. 
Unless, at times, to hold the rein. 
Now judge, unless entirely sound. 
If she could bear me such a round. 
It's certain then your muse is heal'd. 
Or else, came sound from Weathersfield. 

Whene'er with friends I correspond, 
I seek for food of which they're fond. 
But if my bests' of meaner kind, 
I strive to dress it to their mind, \ 

For this I leave my wonted course. 
With you, and seek for aid from verse. 

[From the original in possession of Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, 
Yale University. Now first published.] 



i88 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Hale^s Description of Camp Scenes^ 1775 (in Rhyme) 

You make a small request, 
(Perhaps sincere perhaps in jest, 
But which is neither here or there, 
For what you do is not my care.) 
Yet what you ask I'll think sincere, 
Untill the contr'y truth appear. 

With chearfulness, be sure, I'll grant 
As far as able what you want. 
If letters, any of you choose 
I'll send as many as you please. 
So far at least, whene'er at leisure, 
I write them with the utmost pleasure 

Could you but take a full survey. 
On this & that & t'other way 
You'd see extended far and wide 
Our camps both here & Roxbury side. 
The hills with tents their whiteness show 
Resembling much Mid winter's snow. 
(For some such cause perhaps the same, 
Our hill is known by winter's name). 
Some the top, some the bottom take, 
Those for health, these for safety sake. 
For health we all do value high. 
And safety too when danger's nigh. — 

When coming here from Watertown, 
Soon after ent'ring Cambridge ground. 
You spy the grand & pleasant seat, 
Possess'd by Washin[g]ton the great. 
It looks so neat, so good the plan, 
You'd think it made for that good man. 

[Erased line reads: "You'd choose it for 
that worthy man."] 



APPENDIX 189 

In better times it was enjoy'd 

By Col'nel Vassell, who prov'd void 

Of love for his Country, which gave 

Him all that Heart could wish to have. 

Of evjsfry joy of life possess'd 

With Riches & wi[t]h honours bless'd, 

He's not content, but fled to Gage 

And with his country war did wage. 

Not many rods from hence is clearly seen 
The house that Captain Coit lives in. 
The Widow Vassell lays a claim 
To this, and gardens round the same. 

In passing on appear some domes 
Both large & high, with numerous rooms. 
In former times, as I am told, 
This splendid place was College call'd^ 
The muses here did once reside. 
And with the ancient muses vy'd. 
E'en shaming Greek and Roman pride. 
The Sons of Science here pursu'd 
Those peaceful arts that make men good. 
But now, so changed is the scene, 
You'd scarce believe these things had been. 
Instead of sons of Science sons of Mars 
And nothing's heard but sound of Wars. 
I [n] stead of learning what makes good, 
They learn the art of spilling blood. 
But now it gives me joy to hear 
That when her ruin seem'd so near. 
From dange[r] having swiftly fled; 
At Concord she erects her head. 
From College as you pass along 
You soon will meet a throng 

1 Harvard College. As Hale says at the close, it moved to Concord 
during the army operations. 



igo NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Of Soldiers; over which brave band, 
Old Gen'ral Putnam holds command. 
This (by the w^ay) is on the right, 
And scarce from College out of sight. 

But if you think it worth your while, 
To take the North for near a mile, 

[Unfinished.] 

On the inner margin of the sheet these lines are added: 

Let not the Ladies wish a spark 
To cheer their spirits in the dark. 
The school which once unequal'd shone 
Appears deserted & undone 
Her genuine sons all being gone. 

The last three lines could apply to the "College," and 
may have been intended for insertion in their proper 
connection in a complete copy of the poem. Hale evi- 
dently wrote this piece for some of his New London 
pupils or friends. 

[From the original in possession of Mr. George D. Smith, New 
York. Now first published.] 



Hale to "Alicia'' — Love Poem 

Alicia, born with every striking charm, 

The eye to ravish or the heart to warm 

Fair in thy form, still fairer in thy mind. 

With beauty wisdom, sense with sweetness joined 

Great without pride, and lovely without art 

Your looks good nature words good sense impart, 

Thus formed to charm Oh deign to hear my song 

Whose best whose sweetest strains to you belong 

Let others toil amidst the lofty air 

By fancy led through every cloud^ above 

1 In the original the word is "clouds." 



APPENDIX 191 

Let empty follies build the castles there 

My thoughts are settled on the friend I love 

Oh friend sincere of soul divinely great 

Shedest thou for me a wretch the sorrowed tear 

What thanks can I in this unhappy state 

Return to you but gratitude sincere 

T'is friendship pure that now demand my lays 

A theme sincere that aid[s] my feeble song 

Raised by that theme I do not fear to praise 

Since your the subject where due praise belong 

Ah dearest girl in whom the gods have joined 

The real blessings which themselves approve 

Can mortals frown at such an heavenly mind 

When Gods propitious shine on you they love 

Far from the seat of pleasure now I roam 

The pleasing landscape now no more I see 

Yet absence nea'r shall take my thoughts from home 

Nor time efface my due regards for thee. 

[From the original, without date, in possession of Mr. George E. 
Hoadley, of Hartford. Now first published. Mr. Hoadley also owns a 
diary written by Mrs. Alicia (Adams) Lawrence, with some of her 
china, silver, furniture and books; also, a tall clock which belonged to 
Nathan's brother, Judge John Hale, and afterwards to Mrs. Lawrence.] 



Hale to W. Saltonstall — ^A School Bill 

Sr, 

£ s d 
My Bill for Schooling your Son the last Quarter is — 12 — 

Y^ H : ble Svt. 

N Hale 
W. Saltonstall Esq"" 

[From the original in possession of Mr. Arthur Hale, of New York. 
Hale drew up three of these bills on a small piece of paper, but slightly 
differing from each other. He seems to have been trying to get the best 
wording before sending a bill. Winthrop Saltonstall was one of the 
proprietors of the New London School. The above is the second form — 
the date probably the summer of 1774.] 



192 NATHAN HALE. 1776 

Hale''s Commission as a Continental Captain 

In congress. 

The Delegates of the United Colonies of New-Hampshire, 
Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New- 
Jersey, Pennsjdvania, the Counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex 
on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, and South- 
Carolina, to Nathan Hale Esq 

We reposing especial trust and confidence in your patriotism, 
valour, conduct and fidelity, DO by these presents constitute and 
appoint you to be Captain in the Nineteenth Regiment of foot 
Commanded by Colonel Charles Webb in the army of the United 
Colonies, raised for the defence of American Liberty, and for 
repelling every hostile invasion thereof. You are therefore care- 
fully and diligently to discharge the duty of Captain by doing and 
performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. And we 
do strictly charge and require all officers and soldiers under your 
command, to be obedient to your orders, as Captain And you 
are to observe and follow such orders and directions from time 
to time as you shall receive from this or a future Congress of the 
United Colonies or Committee of Congress, for that purpose ap- 
pointed, or Commander in Chief for the time being of the army 
of the United Colonies, or any other your superior officer, accord- 
ing to the rules and discipline of war, in pursuance of the trust 
reposed in you. This commission to continue in force until re- 
voked by this or a future Congress. 

Attest Cha^ Thomson Sec.^. By Order of the Congress, 
January the first 1776 — John Hancock President^ 

[The original now in possession of Mr. William A. Read, of New 

York.] 

1 The names and writing printed in italics are written in the original. 



APPENDIX 193 

Hale's Linonia Minutes 

Hale became a member of this once famous Society at Yale 
College, November 7, 1770, early in his Sophomore year. He 
appears as secretary or "scribe" in January, 1771, serving as such 
the greater part of the year. One of his first entries in the minute- 
book, January 2"*^, runs: "This Honorable Society met at Mead's 
Room, the meeting v^^as opened vi^ith a Narration, spoken by Alden, 
then the Members proceeded to elect Gould a Chancellor [Presi- 
dent] and after a few Questions they appointed Williams ^^* to 
deliver an Oration at the next Anniversary, they likewise appointed 
Sir Dwight, Sir Davenport, Sir Williams, Cutler, Gould, 
Barker, ^d Hall, Alden, GuUey, Hays, Lyman, Merwin & Wil- 
liams, 2d whom they design'd should take their Parts, in acting a 
Comedy call'd the Conscious Lovers, and they appointed the fol- 
lowing to act a Farce call'd the Toy Shop, (viz) Cutler, Barker, ^J 
Billings, Cob, Hall, Welch, Williams, i^t Hale, i^t Hale, 2d 
Leonard, Mead & Woodbridge, 

Test Nathan Hale Scribe" 

January 9*^ "This venerable Club met at Alden's Room. The 
Meeting was open'd with a Narration spoken by Welch; and 
after some questions was clos'd with a Dialogue spoken by Lyman 
& Robertson." 

The next scribe, E. Williams, makes the entry, December 18, 
1771: "This Illustrious Society Met at Hale's Room." Few 
Members Present, the meeting closing with a speech delivered 
by "M-- Nathan Hale."— November 26, 1772: "Narration deliv- 
ered by Hale very instructive." — December 30; "Very agreeable 
and entertaining extemporary Dispute delivered by Hale 2nd" ^^id 
three others. Hale was elected Chancellor in the latter part of his 
Senior year. For further reference to his connection with the 
Society, see pages 31, 143-146. 

[Original in Yale University Library.] 



194 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Letters from Hale's Father and Brothers 

Deacon Richard Hale to His Sons Enoch and Nathan 

IN College^ 

Dear children, 

I Rec^ your Letter of the 7"^ instant and am glad to hear that 
you are well suited with Living in College and would let you 
know that wee are all well threw the Divine goodness, as I hope 
these lines will find you. I hope you will carefully mind your 
studies that your time be not Lost and that you will mind all the 
orders of College with care and be sure above all forget not to 
Learne Christ while you are busy in other studies. I intend to 
send you some money the first opportunity perhaps by Mr. Sher- 
man when he Returns home from of the surcit [circuit court] he 
is now on. If you can hire Horses at New Haven to come home 
without too much trouble and cost I don't know but it is best and 
should be glad to know how you can hire their and send me word. 
If I Don't here from you I shall depend upon sending Horses 
to you by the 6* of May, — if I should have know oppertunity 
to send you any money till May and should then come to New 
Haven and clear all of would it not do? If not you will let me 
know it. Your friends are all well at Coventry — your mother 
sends her Regards to you — from your kind and Loving 

Father Rich'' Hale, 

Coventry Dec"" 26* 
A.D. 1769 

I have nothing spettial to write but would by all means desire 
you to mind your Studies and carefully attend to the orders of 
Coledge. Attend not only Prayrs in the chapel but Secret Prayr 
carefully. Shun all vice especially card Playing. Read your Bibles 
a chapter night and morning. I cannot now send you much money 

1 The first three letters from Hale's father have been slightly modern- 
ized by division into sentences, etc. The fourth letter to his brother 
follows the original MSS. 









' :^''\/A^^ -"<'' '^D/^j. ^; 







^-'^'•^.. /J IZ-'-JZ^^i^ ^ 'i^ 



Autographs of Nathan Hale and his father, Richard Hale 



APPENDIX 195 

but hope when S"^ Strong comes to Coventry to be able to send 
by him what you want. . . . 

from your Loving Fath — 

RiCH° Hale 
Coventry, Dec^ 17^^ 1770 

Loving Children — by a line would let you know that I with 
my family threw the Divine Goodness are well as I hope these 
Lines will find you. I have heard that you are better of the 
measles. The Cloath for your Coat is not Done. But will be 
Done next week I hope at firthest. I know of no opporttunity 
we shall have to send it to Newhaven and have Laid in with Mr, 
Strong for his Horse which his son will Ride down to New 
Haven for one of you to Ride home if you can get Leave and 
have your close made at home. I sopose that one mesure will 
do for both of you. I am told that it is not good to study hard 
after the measles — hope you will youse Prudance in that afare. 
If you do not one of you come home I don't see but that you 
must do with out any New Close till after Commensment. I 
send you Eight Pound in cash by Mr. Strong — hope it will do for 
the present — 

Your Loving Father 

RiCH° Hale 
Coventry August 13'^ 1771. 

[From originals in possession of estate of the late Rev. Edward 
Everett Hale.] 



Richard Hale to His Brother Samuel, Portsmouth^ 
New Hampshire 

Dear Brother 

I Rec^ your favor of the 17*^ of February Last and rejoce to 
hear that you and your Famley ware well your obversation as to 
the Diffulty of the times is very just so gloomey a day wee niver 



196 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

saw before but I trust our Cause is Just and for our Consolation 
in the times of greatest destress we have this to sopert us that 
their is a God that Jugeth in the earth if wee can but take the 
comfort of it as to our being far advanced in life if it do but 
serve to wean us from this presint troublesom world and stur us 
up to preapre for a world of peace and Rest it is well the calls in 
Providance are loud to prepare to meet our God and O that he 
would prepare us you desired me to inform you about my son 
Nathan you have doutless seen the Newberry Port paper that 
gives the acount of the conduct of our kinsman Sam^^ Hale toard 
him in York as to our kinsman being here in his way to York it 
is a mistake but as to his conduct tord my son at York Mr. 
Cleveland of Capepan [Cape Ann] first reported it near us I 
sopose when on his way from the Armey where he had been 
Chapling home as was Probley true betraie'd he doubtless was by 
somebody he was executed about the 22"^^ of Sepetember last by the 
aconts we have had. a child I sot much by but he is gone I think 
the second [?]^ trial I ever met with my Z^^ son Joseph is in 
the armey over in the Jarsyes and was well the last we heard 
from him my other son that was in the service belonged to the 
melishey and is now at home my son Enoch is gone to take the 
small pox by enoculation Brother Robinson and famley are well 
we are all threw the Divine goodness well my wife joins in love 
to you and Mrs. Hale and your children 

Your loving Brother 

Richard Hale 
Coventry March 28'^ 1777 

[From the MSS. letter in possession of Mr. George M. Thornton, 
Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Now first published in its original form. 

This valuable letter, supposed to be lost, was recovered a few years 
since by Hon. Frank L. Howe, of Barrington, New Hampshire, and 
printed in modernized form in the Hartford Courant, August 26, 1911. 
It is the letter referred to by Mr. William Hale, Nathan's cousin, in some 
correspondence printed in the Appendix of Stuart's book.] 

1 Deacon Hale may have wished to say that it was the second greatest 
or sorest trial he ever met with, the previous trial being the loss of his 
first wife [?]. 



APPENDIX 197 

Enoch Hale to Nathan at New London 

Lyme May 10'^, A.D. 1774 
Dear Brother, 

A few words by the hand of friend Noyes. You see I am at 
Lyme: but I could not come by New London. I left home last 
Thursday. Mother and Sally in a poor way, I fear not so well 
as when you was there. I came by the way of Lebanon, left Billey 
with Mr. Huntington to learn the Blacksmiths trade. I b[r] ought 
no books for you, I had no conveniency but left word to have 
them sent to you, if opportunity presented, Pope's Iliad & the 5*^ 
Vol. of the late war, which I found among the books and placed 
in my chest. 

I stand in need of a pair of breaches, I know of no better place 
to purchase cloath than at New London. If you will oblige me 
so much as to go with Noyes & get as good & fashionable as you 
can but not too costly: for it is for every day, therefore cheeper 
the better, & likewise trimmings. Squire Noyes would be glad to 
see the History of the late war, so if you will send some of the 
Volumes if you don't want them, you will oblige him & me, 

Enoch Hale 

[From original in possession of estate of the late Rev. Edward 
Everett Hale.] 



John Hale to His Brother Nathan 

Coventry 20*^ March 1775 

Dear Brother I send you these lines to acquaint you that I am 
in good health at Present tho some of our folks are not at last 
Richard is very sick with the Canker but I hope not the worst sort 
he was taken last Monday his throat is very much sweald so that 
he cant swallow but a very little but I hope he will get better sone 
but I am very much concern about him the rest of us are in as 
good health as we were when you was at home Enoch Larrebe 
has lost three cheldren lately with the Throat Destemper and two 
or three others that have been very sick but are geting better 



igS NATHAN HALE. 1776 

I want you should get M'' Green to put an advertisment in his 
paper for me and I will satisfy you for it — I would have the 
Advertisment be something after this sort without you can alter 
it for the better 

All Persons having Accounts against the Estate of M"" Elijah 
Rip [ley] late of Coventry Deceased are desired to bring in the 
same to the subscriber who will attend said Business at the Dwell- 
ing house of Eph"^ Root Esq Inkeeper in said Coventry on the 
first Tuesday of April next and so on every Tuesday till the first 
of June next and all Indebted to said Estate are desired to make 
speedy payment to 

John Hale Administrator 

I shall write no more at Present so remain your Loving 

Brother John Hale. 
To 
M"" Nathan Hale 
New London 

[Original in Connecticut Historical Society.] 



Letters from Hale's Classmates 

Roger Alden to Hale^ 

Newhaven Evening after Fast 
Friend Hale 

I feel very much refreshed, it was not many Hours since, that 
I seemed to be cursed, with a dull, sour Melancholy Temper, 
which seemed to communicate the Contagion to every thing that 
I either wrote or thought of, but however my writings may 
dififer, my mind feels very much changed — I hope you have spent 

1 Alden was a native of Lebanon, Connecticut. Leaving his school 
in 1776 he became Adjutant and Aid-de-Camp to General Huntington 
and served till 1781. In 1785 he became Deputy Secretary to the Con- 
tinental Congress, and in his later days held a post position at West Point, 
where he died in 1836. "Yale in the Revolution," p. 282; Dexter's Yale 
Biographies, Vol. HL 



APPENDIX 199 

this Day in such a Manner as that you will not be troubled with 
any Convictions of Conscience — you must excuse me for the 
present, as I am interrupted — 



Thursday Morning after Fast 

I suppose that 3'ou rose very early this morning have been per- 
using some agreeable as well as profitable Book, & not many 
minutes since, felt for your watch Chain, with your eyes intent 
on your Book, until you had brought your memento about the 
length of your Book from its Habitation & found it to be just 
59 minutes after 8 OClock, if that was not the most disagreeable 
Time in all the Day, tell me in jour next, it seems to me that 
you pictured out at once all the Troubles that you was to 
encounter — This I am certain that your reading after that did not 
profit much — especially if you was in the middle of some diverting 
scene in either History, Plays, Novels, Romances or whatever you 
please, it is not the Trouble of keeping School that brings this 
uneasiness, but being confined to particular Hours, I have fre- 
quently experienced all these Feelings, & have as much dreaded the 
Hours of Nine & Two, as ever I did the morning prayer Bell, or 
Saturday noon Recitation, but Friend Nathan what is it that 
makes things that are real good & agreeable in themselves, so 
unpleasing to us, every delightsome Diversion every profitable 
Study we see oft disaiifects & disgusts us, not you & myself, but 
every rational Creature on Earth, I mean those that are called 
rational to distinguish them from lower Orders of created Beings 
but methinks we have as small Pretences to it, as the meanest 
animal living, for such Principles & Practice, which we experience 
every Day we live, contradict common sense & basely degrade 
what is so frequently stiled the greatest Excellence of human 
Nature, human Reason — But is a common Observation & as 
true as it is old, that mankind may be led, but will never be 
drove — this we may observe in every stage of Life, from the 
Infant to fourscore years & Ten — this which seems to be innate 
& born with us, appears to me the greatest proof of universal 
Depravity & Original Sin, that I can conceive of, but is so always 
was & always will be — I would not have you think that I send 



200 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

this as a sample of my good writing, or good sense, not that [it] 
is deficient in either of these Points, but rather a Proof of my 
Friendship when you have read all this Srole, I hope you will 
think necessary to give me some kind of an Answer, when you 
have Leisure — from your best Friend — 

Roger Alden — 
To 
M^ Nathan Hale 

New London 
pr Mr Hull 

[In Connecticut Historical Society Library.] 



Same to Same 

N Haven Nov^^ 28*^ 1775 
Dear S^ 

If you had only once thought, how much Pleasure it would have 
given me, to receive a Letter from you, in your present Character & 
Situation, I am sure you could not have neglected writing to me 
by Capt Leavenworth — 

If the Life & Business of a Soldier has worn off all that Friend- 
ship & Tenderness for me, which you have so often expressed by 
words & Actions — I shall try to reconcile myself to the misfortune, 
& promise myself no more Happiness & Satisfaction, from him 
whom I once esteemed among the number of my best Friends. — 

It is very hard for me to entertain such an Opinion, of a Person 
of your Frankness & Sincerity, nor will I allow myself to indulge 
such a Thought, or be guilty of such an Odious Jealousy. 

The Cares, Perplexities, & Fatigues of your Office, are Matters 
sufficient to vindicate your conduct, & the Duty, which you owe 
to your own Honour & the Interest of your Country, is sufficient 
to employ your whole Time, & to justify you in the Dispensing 
with the Obligations of your old Friends & Acquaintance. — Reason, 
perhaps may convince me of this Truth, but w[e]re I to be Judge 
in the affair, I am very sure that I should be very partial in my 
own Favour — 

I expect, that you will impute this long Chasm in our Corre- 



APPENDIX 201 

spondence to me, should you ever take it in your Head to write — 
but I pray that you will give equal Partiality to my Faults, & 
ascribe it to some strange, & hidden Cause in the Natural or 
Political System, & conclude that after the Revolution of months 
& years, Things have returned to their former Order & Regu- 
larity — but then I would only remind you, that you must be very 
careful to use your utmost efforts to preserve them in [?] situa- 
tion, in respect to their motions & Conjunctions. — 

I almost envy you your Circumstances, I want to be in the 
Army very much, I feel myself fit to relish the Noise of Guns, 
Drums, Trumpets, Blunderbuss, & Thunder; & was I qualified 
for a Birth, & of influence sufficient to procure one I would accept 
it with all my Heart ; I would accept of a Lieutenancy but should 
prefer an Adjutancy but other more fortunate Young Persons are 
provided for, & poor I, must make myself contented where I am — 
think of my Condition, & then Imagine how high I estimate 
Yours — Give my best Love & Compliments to Keyes & Wood- 
bridge, tell them I shall be very careful to answer all their Letters 
as well as [yo]ur own — After you have thought over all this, 
tell yourself that no one loves you more than — Roger Alden. 

Cap* Nathan Hale — 
in the Army — 
Cambridge — 
p"" Cap*^ Leavenworth 

[In Connecticut Historical Society Library.] 



Elihu Marvin to Hale^ 

-^ „ Norwich, April 8*^ 1774 

Dear Sr. 

I have at present only just time to acknowledge the Receipt of 
yours as I did not know that Waterman by whoom I send 

1 Marvin was a native of Lyme, Connecticut. Like Alden, he dropped 
his teaching and joined the army in 1777. After the war he settled down 
as a physician at Norwich. His devotion to his profession led to his 
death from yellow fever in 1798. "Yale in the Revolution," p. 292. 
Dexter's Yale Biographies, Vol. HL 



202 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

intended for N. L. till about 4 minutes agone, he is now rigging — 
Why ha[v] nt you had one wrote before you say? I'll tell you 
since I received I have ben extreem busy preparing for Quarter- 
Day which was yesterday I have not time to give particulars we 
had various kinds of exercises among the rest speaking — The Dia- 
logue between Humphrey & Pounce was Delivered to the great 
satisfaction of spectators — After exercises I had the pleasure to 
drink tea with an agreeable circle of young Ladies — Then went to 
Wedding at a near Neighbours spent the evening in brisk exer- 
cise — sometimes eating, sometimes Drinking — sometimes Danc- 
ing — & at almost all time sweating as 'twas very warm — so that 
this morning I feel not a great difFeren from what is customary 
after Quarter — so you will excuse me the trouble of correcting 
and pointing — you mentioned to me a grammar which you have 
by you — if I mistake not the British instructor but whether I have 
got the Name right or not if you can spare it a few days as well 
as not, & will send it up by Capt. Waterman today — I shall be 
much obliged to you — I believe I need not tell you I will be care- 
ful of it — I would not have you put yourself out of the way about 
it. If you can as well spare it a few days as not with the Book 
send me a line how long you can & I'll endeavour to send it by 
the time — 

Im 

Your Serv* 

El. Marvin 
To 

M"" Nathan Hale 
N. London 

[Original in possession of Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, Yale University.] 



Same to Same 

Norwich 15*^ DeC". 1775 
S^ 

Three month at Cambridge and not one line. Well I can't help 

it, if a Capt^ Commission has all this effect, what will happen when 

it is turned into a Colonel's — 



APPENDIX 203 

Polly hears of one and another at New London who have 
letters from M"" Hale but none comes to me Polly says 

Mrs. Poole was at Norwich sometime since and desired me to 
enclose a letter for her which I engaged to do, but I was unfor- 
tunately taken sick the night before the man sat out, and through 
that indolence which you know is so natural to me I had neglected 
to write sooner so was disappointed of fulfilling my engagement 

My disorder proved to be the Throat distemper with which I 
was severely exercised for about a week but Blessed be God I have 
now recovered my health pretty well — 

The fortifications are going on briskly at New London and 
Groton — I hear at Stonington they are preparing to make the 
mos vigorous defence. 

James Hilhouse writes me they are preparing to give them a 
suitable reception at New Haven. The assembly is now sitting 
nothing of their doings have as yet transpired but it is said the 
Governor call'd them together to see what shall be done with 
some Tories who are said to be troublesome in the Western part 
of the Colony you know they are plenty there. 

We hear that a number of the settlers on the Susquehannah 
purchase are taken prisoners by the Pennymites — That assembly 
have taken up the matter and seem determined to proceed to 
blood-sh[ed], A sad Omen to the happy union that has as yet 
subsisted between the Colonies, Could our internal enemies wish 
for a more favourable event on their side. 

I make no doubt of its being a plan of the Tory party in the 
Pennsylvania assembly. What will be the event I know not but 
hope the allwise disposer of afifairs will not suffer it to proceed to 
a rupture between the Two Colonies — 

I am now Trespasing on my school hours so must conclude 
your's Elihu Marvin 

To Nathan Hale 

P. S. Miss Polly's complies to Mr. Hale — ^A letter would not 
be disagreeable 

[In Connecticut Historical Society Library.] 



204 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Same to Same 

Norwich 26 Feb. 1776 

S*" Received yours by M"" Richards, I did not send by the post 
however I wrote and expected it would have gone sometime since. 
The reason I did not send by the post was I understood he rode 
by subscription and that nonsubscribers paid Postage, which I 
supposed you would think dear. But I find he brings letters for 
me and demands nothing however the matter is I intend to know 
soon and be able to send in a Constitutional way . . . One piece 
of news ; I have set out to manufacture salpetre, hope the Army in 
future will be in no want of powder for I have extracted at least 
half a pound. 

It is said in Letterwriting it is best to write what comes upper- 
most — But what think you had I best tell you how mad I have 
been to day or not? . . I rather doubt it; and yet since I 
have raised your curiosity I believe I must in some measure 
gratify it. I think as we were walking down street I told you 
something of our affairs in the Light Infantry Company . . We 
have this day been pretending to exercise and manoeuvre, and as 
is usual mustered one Commission Officer and for matter of what 
he knew about discipline we might as well have been without 
him . . . To put one's self to some considerable cost to fix to 
have raised expectations of making some appearance, to attract the 
attention of men of skill and judgment, as well as to equip our- 
selves to serve our Country, and then to be haw'd about by a set 
of Ignoramus's and made the sport and ridicule of spectators you 
may well think will stir old Adam especially in a person whose 
vanity tells him if the Tables were turned matters would not 
work just so. . . — 

What scheme shall now poor Corp^ lay 
Since Polly's gone, an still doth stay; 
If there I knock they bid me walk in 
But Polly's not in hall or kitchen. 
Then out he goes and does not tarry 
Whilst Cretia cries "pray what's your hurry; 
By that time this is fairly done 



APPENDIX 



205 



P. S. 



Lo ! Tom. replies the Corps's gone, 

He's gone 'tis true replete with cheer 

But hardly knows which way to stear. 

When musing thus within himself 

"Near by lives Nathan's other self, 

"Poor girl she's left almost alone, 

"Since neighbour Hale's been gone from home 

"By Nature's laws we are directed 

"To visit such as are afflicted." 

Then onward strait directs his course 

To seek and find the weeping house. 

When there: the Lady drown 'd in tears 

With sad complaints doth fill his ears. 

"Behold (she cries) the Cap* cruel 

"Hath left me neither food nor fuel; 

"Oh more than frozen, guilty heart, 

"That could with so much ease depart 

"And leave me here, as yet untried 

"A poor, forsaken helpless bride." 

Her heart to ease, her mind to calm. 

He then pours in the friendly balm 

Of honor gaind, of service done 

A treasure which he'll sure bring home 

The side is full the rhyme is bad 

So I'll leave of? and go to bed 

Of this if you are quite observant 

You'll find I'm still your humb' Serv* 

E. Marvin 

forwarded directly to N. London by M"" Richards. 



[Original in possession of Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, Yale University.l 



Same to Same 

Norwich 17'^ March 1776 

Reciev'd yours of the 10*^ Inst: obliged for the news 1 am 

sorry since to hear that the attempt to secure the Point has failed, 



2o6 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

and especially that it was through the misconduct of our own 

people If I have been rightly informed it is a direct instance 

to shew the necessity of discipline which (between you and 

1)1 fear is greatly wanting among our Troops that it should 

as yet be wanting is not strange but if we who are indulging 

ourselves in ease here at home, may be allowed to judge from 
hearsay, I think we have but too much reason to fear, that the 
true notion of discipline is but very little relish'd or understood 
even by officers - - if this is the case surely so long as it continues 
so obedience and subordination can never be rationally expected 
from the soldiers 

I was going on further with my sentiments in regard to disci- 
pline, but as my time is short and the subject copious I will defer 
it for the present. 

We hear you are like to be sent this way 

Transports are preparing in great haste at the Landing - - I[f] 
you are hope to have a social chat or so 

It is too dark to write 

E. Marvin 

P. S.. wanting. 
To 
Cap* Nathan Hale 

Roxbury 

[In Connecticut Historical Society Library.] 



Same to Same 

Norwich, 11 th June 1776 
Kind Sr, 

Am obliged for your particular history of the adventure aboard 
the prize ; wish you would acquaint me with every incident of 
good or ill fortune which befals you in your course of Life. The 
whole journal I hope some time or other to peruse — you are 
sensible that I am not in a way to meet with adventures new or 
interesting. Teaching, scolding and Floging is the continual 



APPENDIX 207 

round. I am surprised when I reflect on my situation ; once I 
could enter my school and spend my hours with pleasure, but 
them scenes are now past — in short I have come to be one of your 
fretting teasing pedagogues and think hard of Quiting. For 
these some Months I have been like a person half distracted. I 
know not what to do with myself. I think of this, that and the 
other calling, and know not which to prefer, then my bleeding 
Country awakes my attention and seems to demand me in the 
field, then I look at my scarified half famish'd supporter and am 
discouraged, Figure to yourself an entire stranger set down in 
the Central point of an hundred paths in which he can scarce 
discern a track by reason of briers and thorns yet through some 
of which he must pass or starve on the spot, and you will see 
your friend. 

For News I shall refer you to Mr. Nevins. My hearty prayer 
to God for my Country is that he would preserve peace and 
harmony among ourselves. I greatly fear some of America's great- 
est and most dangerous enemies are such as think themselves her 
best friends. In what other light can we consider such men as 
profess themselves firm friends to her cause and yet are spiriting 
up their neighbours to fall on the Merchant and compel him 
to sell his own goods at their own price. Had we virtue to deny 
ourselves our foolish passions, and assist each other to the end I 
think we need not fear the Boasted power of Britain with all her 
train of Confederate Mercenaries. What an appearance must 
Britain make in the eyes of other Nations, who, even whilst she 
is loudly proclaiming her kindness in nourishing and protecting 
her infant offspring in America, is, upon the first notice of peevish- 
ness and ill humor obliged to intreat, and even hire her neigh- 
bours to assist in correcting it. — Alas ! degenerate Britain no longer 
boast thyself mistress of the World ! — 

E. Marvin 

N. B. Nevins is on the hill every night. Polly says she writes 
by him. The Ladie's are all in good spirits. 

[In Connecticut Historical Society Library.] 



2o8 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

William Robinson to Hale at East Haddam^ 

Windsor (not east) Jany 20^^ 1773 [1774] 
Sir 

In my present unlucky situation, I have just rec*^ yours of Day 
after Thanksgiving; from v^^hich I am at a loss to determine 
whether you are yet in this Land of the living, or removed to 
some far distant, & to us unknovim region; but thus much I am 
certain of, that if you departed this Life at Modos, you stood but 
a narrow chance for gaining a better; 

At the top of the page I denomenate my present situation 
unlucky, in one sense it is so; but upon many accounts I can't but 
say that I am well pleas'd with it; By confining myself to a 
School I am deprived of the pleasure, of many agreeable rides, 
among my Friends about the country, in which I had determined 
to spend the Winter; with this farther aggravation, that till now, 
you have not known where to direct for me, & perhaps have 
entertained suspicions, that I was careless about returning an 
Answer to yours; on the other hand, my school is not large, my 
neighbours are kind & clever (& summatim) my distance from 
an house on your side the river, which contains an object worthy 
the esteem of everyone, & I conclude has yours in an especial 
manner, is not great; such being my situation why should I 
complain? for no other reason but that I cannot enjoy the com- 
pany of yourself, with some other 'special Friends. I have lately 
seen your Brother, the other side of the river, who informs me 
that he is well pleas'd with his Schools & further, that Lyman 
tarry'd with him the Sabbath before last, in his return home from 
Hatfield, by whom rec^ intelligence, that being occasionally at 
Sunderland not long since (to use his own expression) "I was there 
informed, that our Friend Cooley had left his school at Deerfield, 
& had taken one at Sunderland, where he was married to one Polly 
Clary, & lived with his Father in Law — I did myself the honor 
(you may be sure) to pay the old gentleman and his lady a Visit; 
at first sight of me he seem'd much disconcerted; but soon recol- 

1 Robinson became a prominent minister in Connecticut. For a full 
account of him, see Dexter's Yale Biographies, Vol. III. 



APPENDIX 209 

lecting himself he put on as bold a countenance as possible ; but 
his Glory is departed from him, he cannot (as you may well guess) 
appear before his old intimates as he used to do, You may perhaps 
wonder how all these things come to pass," 

But 
"that secret I am somewhat jealous 
a Boy will come next month to tell us," 

Thus far, sir, I conclude by wishing you, in your business, the 
greatest success. 

Your sincere friend 

& huml. sert. 

W^ Robinson 

[In Connecticut Historical Society Library.] 



Same to Same 

New Haven Febv 19^^ 1776 
[Printed in full on page 85.] 



Ezra Selden to Hale^ 

RoxBURY Camp June 25*^ 1775 
Sir 

I just have remembrance of my engagement to you as well as 
to Numbers of others which I cannot fulfill We came into Rox- 
bury on Sunday about Five o Clock they have been firing upon 
Roxbury a great Part of Saturday killed one Man June 24 have 

1 Selden, one of Hale's classmates, was at this time orderly sergeant 
in Colonel S. H. Parsons' Connecticut regiment. He remained in the 
service to the end of the war, rising to the rank of captain. At the 
storming of Stony Point in 1779 he was severely wounded. He was a 
native of Lyme. Two more of his letters, written in much better style, 
appear in "Yale in the Revolution," Yale Biographies, etc., Vol. HI, 
p. 505. 



210 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

been firing upon Roxbury Saturday afternoon and killed two 
Men with small arms which throug presumtion attempted to set 
on fire their guard house but they ran in great numbers from 
behind the house fired upon them both of which were taken one 
of them was run throug with Bayonets and carried of in that 
manner none others hurt they made some shingles fly and some 
dust & a small matter of Dust with their Bums though our people 
fear'^ them but tryfling one marched up and pulled out the fuse 
carried the Bum to head Quarters the chief of Ball would be 
taken up before they had done roling. The Inhabitance have done 
comeing out of Boston almost The number of those Slain in the 
Battle between Putnam and the Gagites is uncertain By letters 
from Gentlemen in Boston Gage has his Army sixteen hundred 
worse than before the engagement. Putnam by the Doctors 
Account has and will lose 150 Men some number of those Provin- 
tials that were taken Prisoners have sent out letters by way of the 
Guards both ways. The Contents if any I cannot Procure fur- 
ther than that they are very well treated Sunday night June 25*^ 
A number of Rhode Hand Men under took to set on fire their 
Guard house upon Boston neck but were prevented some fires 
were exchanged on both sides but I dont learn as any were hurt 
on either side 

The Soldier live in houses as many as can & more also But 
are not so healthy as those in Tents of which number we are I 
don't learn anything worth mentioning our fort upon the hill 
near the meeting house contains about 1 & 1-3 acres of Land 
we have another Batery where the rodes part that comes out of 
Boston have also two more upon the neck one of them against 

the Burying Yard 

Ezra Selden 

N. B. Capt Ely's & Clefs Companies came in on Sunday 

To 
M'" Nathan Hale 

New London in Connecticut 

[Original letter in possession of the Boston Public Library. Printed 
in its "Monthly Bulletin," November, 1900.] 



APPENDIX 211 

Benjamin Tallmadge to Hale.^ 

N2 Friendly Sir,^ 

In my delightsome retirement from the fruitless Bustle of the 
noisy, with my usual Delight, &, perhaps, with more than com- 
mon attention, I perused your Epistle — Replete as it was with 
Sentiments worthy to be contemplated, let me assure you with 
the strongest confidence of an affectionate Friend, that with noth- 
ing was my Pleasure so greatly heightned, as with your curious 
remarks upon my preceding Performance, which, so far from carry- 
ing the appearance of a censureing Critick's empty amusement, 
seemed to me to be wholly the result of unspoted regard & (as 
I may say) fraternal esteem. Equall certain (If I know you[r] 
Disposition) That the same liberty will be allowed on your Part; 
I shall always (in Terms not unworthy of a friend) take the 
Liberty to inform you wherever our Judgments materially dis- 
agree Nevertheless, as your Permission has not been expressly 
granted me on this head, & nothing, essentially different from 
my own opinion, appearing in your Letters, I have no occasion at 
present, of pointing out any Inaccuracy in your own Composition. 
Still, assuming the Privilege (which no Person, either accused or 
condemned, can reasonably be denyed), viz. of defendinging my 
own assertions, I hope to make reasonable, what before seemed 
somewhat needless. 

You intimated in your last, that my using the Comparative De- 
gree was somewhat needless, alledging that the sincerity of my 
friendship would not be rendered more conspicuous by the use of 
the Comparative. Had I endeavoured in good earnest to leave 
it as an undoubted Truth, that I exceeded you in regard & esteem 

1 Tallmadge, at this date a Junior or Senior at college, was a native 
of Setauket, Long Island. As major of Dragoons he distinguished him- 
self during the Revolution. Subsequently member of Congress. His 
career is well known. More of his letters appear in "Yale in the Revo- 
lution" and his "Memoir," as reprinted with notes, by the Society of 
Sons of the Revolution, New York, in 1904. Yale Biographies," etc., Vol. 
Ill, p. 506. 

2 "N2" is in Hale's hand, meaning, apparently, letter No. 2 from 
Tallmadge. See p. 20. 



212 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

as much as I did in comparison, I allow it would have been bor- 
dering upon arrogance, & needless superfueties ; But I assure you 
this was far from being my intent & Design — True, I would be 
glad to be ranked in the number of your best & most intimate 
Friends, but I did not think that method would be any ways con- 
tributory to that end. I therefore stiled myself in that manner, 
for want of a better Epithet (not deeming it of great Importance 
whether there be any or not) & perhaps with a view to conclude 
with a Compliment somewhat jocose. Retracting, partly, what 
I before said about criticising upon your own performances I 
can't but acquaint you with one observation You seemingly dis- 
like the Character which I assumed & immediately after refuse 
to change yours; rightly thinking that my judgment will not be 
founded on the Character which j'ou apply to yourself. Allowing 
that the Term by which a person is called ought to be esteemed of 
no Importance, you still, mildly, & curiously, reprimand me for 
using a particular Term. If I ought to look upon yours to be 
of no importance, you ought to be as favourable to me & esteem 
mine of as little. 

My applying the reasons, offered for not corresponding, as 
motives for my undertaking this particular employment you also 
think somewhat needless. — The end of my former Epistle was 
mostly to offer the reasons which had induced me to correspond; 
now had I omited one of the most powerful motives to this under- 
taking, you would not have been fully acquainted with my views, 
& the advantage which I hope to receive, & so perhaps would not 
have been equally contributory to my proposed schemes & real 
Profit- 
Thus much have I wrote, more out of curiosity than anything 
else, not supposing that you absolutely condemned what I have 
been defending. But still this method of writing is not wholly 
destitute of every advantage In the first Place, it affords an oppor- 
tunity, as well as gives a Person a Disposition, carefully to scruti- 
nize into all manner of w^riting; while it will be a monitor to 
himself to avoid defects manifest in the same. And secondly it 
may be of advantage to us, in causing us carefully to consider 
what we assert, that so we may be able to defend the same, 



APPENDIX 213 

against the captious wills Sc the insidious words of our adversaries — 
To obtain advantage myself, & to be contributor}", as much as I 
am able to your improvement, was certainly my whole Design in 
undertaking this exercise; & I doubt not but that the same reasons 
were your greatest Inducements — To this End, I make no doubt, 
you freely gave me your Judgment in your last Epistle, 6c with 
the same views I make you this return : which may perhaps answer 
your reasonable expectation & yet fall wholly short of your 
Desire — 

I have so far exceeded my design in treating upon the preceed- 
ing Topics, that I must omit many things, which I determined to 
have discoursed upon at this Time — to be considered in some 
future Paper. 

In haste From Yours Sec Damox 

B— T— . . 
To 

M"" Nathan Hale 
N. South Stairs 

[In Connecticut Historical SocietA- Librarj-.] 



Same to Same 
Dear Sir 

the Reception of your Epistle, dated June 25'^^ as sensibly 
encreased my happiness, as perhaps any one accidental Circum- 
stance which hath hapened to me since my first arrival. Although 
my Company & present Condition, is far from tending to Melan- 
choly & Dulness; yet in a place where few intimate Friends, or 
even acquaintance are at first to be found ; that absolute contented- 
ness of Mind, which is so necessary to true Happiness, is not so 
readily obtained. But perhaps I am more than commonly de- 
lighted with the Perusal of such friendly Epistles. Indeed I 
know of no one Circumstance which would tend more directly, to 
make me contented in my particular Place than the Correspond- 
ence which I should hope to maintain with some of my most inti- 



214 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

mate Friends. That which has for some time subsisted between 
you & myself, I desire may never have an End; and although I 
have not so much Time as I could desire, in order that I might 
make my letters both e[n]tertaining & instructive to my absent 
Friend, yet I hope you will by no means sufFer your pen to be in 
Poleness (if by such frequent use you have learnt it to work of its 
own accord) so long as you can be both contributory to my 
advantage, & happiness. 

My present Situation is very agreable, & I think more so than 
what I expected. Perhaps, in no Place is there more distinction 
with regard to Company. The Pedagogues of this Place, have 
the Honour to be admitted into the Number of those who are of 
the first Rank. In such Company we have not only the advan- 
tages of friendly Intercourse, Jollity, & Mirth; but it may also 
be rendered very useful & instructive — The female part, is very 
agreable — Singing I think is by no means the least agreable Exer- 
cise of the Lords Day — My School is indeed very large, about 60 : 
70 : 80 : & 90 but I hope soon to have a Collegue (of the fair 
sex) settled under me, (or rather over me,) for She will dwell 
in the 2^ loft — I, at present dwel with Mrs. Lockwood, where 
I have all things convenient. But Time would fail me to enumer- 
ate all my Circumstances; what remains I must reserve for the 
next Epistle. These Lines come in greate haste & with much 
love & regard, from your sincere Friend, & constant Well-wisher 

Damon - B : T — 

Weathersfield July 9^^ 1773— 

P : S : tell Shelton not to fail of writing me a letter & I will 
send him an answer. Give my regards to your Room-mates, & 
tell them to write. By all means let me know the Day of the 

Examination. 

To 
M"- Nathan Hale 

Student at Y' College 
pr fav. of M"" Lockwood — 

[From original in possession of the New York Public Library.] 



APPENDIX 215 

Same to Same 



Dear friend 



actuated by Principles of the most sincere regard, & called on 
by the ties of Gratitude & friendship, I have set apart an hour of 
this far declining evening for the purpose of writing an Epistle 
to one whose regard I highly prize, whose welfare I shall always 
endeavour to promote. Mr. Richard's Determination to ride 
early in the morning makes it necessary for me to improve the 
present moments [which for certain reasons I could gladly spend 
in a different way] for the purpose before mentioned. 

You may perhaps have heard of my late Journey to the East- 
ward, Would time permit I should give you some history of my 
late travels, the state of our military arrangement, & the wonder- 
ful Phenomena observable by every gaping Spectator. However 
the barrenness of these parts for News & my own disposition at 
present [which can hardly afford from its treasure things new & 
old] must excuse this neglect. Let such currency pass; I have 
things of more importance to treat of; a subject wherein you are 
by no means unconcerned, & the community has a vote among the 
rest. By your good Landlord I am informed that you are honoured 
by the Assembly with a Lieutenant's commission. I can't say that 
you will hesitate a moment in your own mind about accepting or 
refusing; but you have a matter of no trifling consideration which 
presents itself for calm reflexion, mature deliberation, & a wise con- 
clusion. Private Interest must be far removed, & the community, 
with the good thereunto accruing by your present choice, must 
sway your mind. Good indeed had it been for mankind if such 
principles as these had influenced their conduct. Hardly, my 
friend ; hardly had we seen the present awful & gloomy day : a Day 
big with some great Event ; a Period which will decide the fate of 
millions, & productive of great Emolument to but few. But 
not to digress, I shall endeavor to suit myself to your condition 
& situation in life, & a [d] vise you as I think I should act myself. 
You must already be considered as acting in a publick capacity, and 
in a sphere which no one can say is of no avail to the Publick. Lib- 
erty is closely connected with learning ; and when I peruse the Vol- 



2i6 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

umes of Antiquity, and see how the greatest absurdities have found 
a good & welcome reception, when assisted by profound ignorance, 
I can heartily thank my God [though not with the Pharisee of 
old] that we are not in this land, ignorant beyond measure, sense- 
less dupes, &c By this I am not for asserting that we rise immod- 
erately high in the lists of the Learned, but that there is a greater 
equality among the People, & consequently a more equal share 
in the current useful knowledge of the Day. But this by the bye. 
When I consider you as a Brother Pedagogue, engaged in a calling, 
useful, honorable, & doubtless to you very entertaining, it seems 
difficult to advise you even to relinquish your business, & to leave 
so agreeable a circle of connections & friends. But when I con- 
sider you as acting in that capacity to the good acceptance of all con- 
cerned, & to your own applause [and far be it from me to flatter 
a friend] the difficulty is still greater. On the other hand when 
I consider our country, a Land flowing as it were with milk & 
honey, holding open her arms, & demanding Assistance from all 
who can assist her in her sore distress, Methinks a Christian's 
counsel must favour the latter. You have I conclude some turn 
for the military art, which being greatly improved by practice, 
may render you highly serviceable to act in that Department. 
Since our late distresses have come upon us, I have turned my 
attention somewhat into the same channel, & find myself highly 
entertained in such pursuits. Was I in your condition, notwith- 
standing the many, I had almost said insuperable, objections 
against such a resolution, I think the more extensive Service 
would be my choice. Our holy Religion, the honour of our God, 
a glorious country, & a happy constitution is what we have to 
defend. Some indeed may say there are others who may supply 
your place. True there are men who would gladly accept of such 
a proposal but are we certain that they would be likely to answer 
just as good an end? Could this be certainly known, though we 
all should be ready to step forth in the common cause, I could 
think it highly incumbent on you not to change your situation. 
These hints, thrown together in great haste, proceed from a heart 
ever devoted to your welfare, & from one who shall esteem it his 
happiness to promote yours. I hope to hear from you soon & to 



APPENDIX 217 

know your determination ; in the mean time I remain your constant 
friend &c &c 

Wethersfield, July 4, 1775 B. Tallmadge 

Per Mr. Richards 
To 
Mr. Nathan Hale 
New London 

[From original in possession of Hon. Simon Gratz, Philadelphia.] 



Ebenezer Williams to Hale^ 

[New Haven 20'^ April, 1775] 

[Letter, printed in part on page 69. The extract appeared in 
a Philadelphia sale catalogue in May, 1913.] 



Timothy Dwight to Hale^ 

Dear Sir, 

The many civilities I have already received at your hands, em- 
bolden me to trouble you with the inclos'd. The design you will 
learn from a perusal of it. As such a publication ["The Conquest 
of Canaan"] must be founded on an extensive subscription, I find 
myself necessitated to ask the assistance of my friends. To a 
person of Mr. Hale's character (motive of friendship apart) fond- 
ness for the liberal arts would be a sufficient apology for this 
application. As I was ever unwilling to be under even necessary 
obligations, it would have been highly agreeable, could I have 
transacted the whole business myself. Since that is impossible I 
esteem myself happy in reflecting that the person, who may confer 
this obligation, is a Gentleman, of whose politeness and benevolence 
I have already experienced so frequent, and so undoubted assur- 

1 For notice of Williams, see Yale Biographies, Vol. III. 

2 A comprehensive notice of Dr. Dwight, later President of Yale 
College, is given in Dexter's Biographies, Vol. III. 



2i8 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

ances. If you will be so kind, my Dear Sir, as to present the 
inclos'd to those Gentlemen & Ladies, of the circle with which you 
are connected, whom you may think likely to honour the poem 
with their encouragement, and return it with their Names, by a 
convenient opportunity, it will add one to the many instances of 
esteem with which you have obliged your very sincere Friend, 

and most Humble Servant 

Timothy Dwight, Jun 
Mr. Nathan Hale 
Feb. 20, 1776. 

Comp's to Capt. Hull, Mr. E. Hunt'g [Lieut. Ebenezer Hunt- 
ington] & the rest of my acquaintance in Camp. 

I would beg the favor of you to forward a letter which will be 
delivered to you by Capt. Perit for Doct Brackett of Portsmouth, 
as you have connections there you may probably do it without 
inconvenience 

[In Connecticut Historical Society Library.] 



Letters from Hale's Friends at New London and 

IN THE Army 

[The originals of the following letters, with the exception of two other- 
wise credited, are in the possession of the Connecticut Historical 
Society Library.] 

Thomas U. Fosdick to Hale at Camp 

New London, Dec' 7, 1775 
Dear Sir, 

Ever since the uneasiness, which I have heard, persisting amongst 
the Connecticut Troops, I've form'd a Resolution to go down to 
the assistance of my countrymen, to facilitate which I have re- 
signed my office as Serjeant in Col. Saltonstall's Com'y — I make 
no doubt. Sir, but you can assist me to some such office, as I 
should choose to be in that station, under you in particular; if 
not, I am determined to come down — a hearty Boy, undaunted 



APPENDIX 219 

by Danger. Ensign Hurlbut will write you concerning the above. 
Your in haste very hum'^'^ Serv' 

Tho^ Updike [Fosdick] 



Timothy Green to Hale at East Haddam 

New London, DeC^ 21. 1773. 

I have shewed M'' Huntington's Letter and the Sample of 
your writing enclosed in it to several of the Proprietors of the 
School in this Town ; who have desired me to inform you that 
there is a Probability of their agreeing with you to keep the 
School: and for that Reason desire that you would not engage 
yourself elsewhere till you hear further from them. 

But should you think proper to ride to this Place immediately 
upon the Receipt of my Letter, the matter might be sooner deter- 
mined ; and in which Case I will see that you are at no Charge 
while here. 

Your very Hleservt 

TiMO Green 
P.S. 

Dec'' 23<^ S"" Since writing the above M"" Phineas Tracy of 
Norwich, has took our School for 3 months, but I dont think it 
probable he will continue in it longer than that and should you 
take a ride here it might be to your advantage 

To 

M''. Nathan Hale 
at East Haddam 



Same to Same 

N London, Feb - 4 - 1774 
Mr Hale 

s-- 

I received your Fav'' by M*" Belding, and observe the Con- 
tents. 



220 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

In Case you had not wrote I shou'd have sent you a Line this 
Week, which I think was agreeable to my promise when you were 
here, but was glad to receive a line from you as it may serve to 
quicken the Proprietors of the School to act upon the matter. 

You may remember it was said, that soon after the rising of 
the Gen. Assembly you shou'd receive a definitive answer from the 
Proprietors of the School — Those of them who were at Hartford 
have returned, but as Rh. Law (who is Judge of the County Court 
which is now sitting at Norwich) was obliged almost immediately 
to attend the Court there, it has so happened that we have not 
as yet had a meeting of the Proprietors; but expect that some- 
thing will be determined by the time M*" Belding goes from hence 
next week; if so, you may depend on hearing from me then, and I 
cannot but hope you'll wait one week more before you engage in 
another School. 

I shall communicate your Letter to the Proprietors and conclude 
at this time (in great Haste) by subscribing myself S'' 

Your moHleservt 

TiMo Green 



Same to Same 

N. London, Feb. 10: 1774. 

s-- 

Since my last to you, the Proprietors of the new School House 
in this Town have had a meeting, and agreed that you should take 
the School for one quarter, at the rate of $220. Dols. pr. ann. to 
be paid at the end of the qtr. of which I am desired to acquaint 
you. Am not able to inform you when Mr. Tracy's quarter will 
expire, but this I will do when I'm acquainted by a Line from you 
whether we may depend on your taking the school, which j^ou 
will please to write me pr. first oppo. — 

It is the desire of the Proprietors that j^ou would come down two 
or three days before Mr. Tracy's quarter expires that they may 
be certain of the school's being immediately supplied with a 



APPENDIX 221 

master — In which case it is agreed that your Wages shall com- 
mence from the Time of your arriving here. — I am, Sr, 

Your mo Hble Servt, 

TiMo Green 

Mr. Tracy's Time will be up about the middle of March. 



John Hallam to Hale in Camp 

New London Oct^ 9*^ 1775 
Dear Sir 

I rec^ your two Letters by Cap^ Packwood & the post, am 
extremly glad you bore travelling & arriv'd at the Camp so well — • 
I wrote you to send by the Last Post but he omitted calling, which 
I have now sent by Col' Sage you must excuse the Letters as 
I had no more paper 

I wrote you that it was reported that CoP Guy Johnson was 
dead, which is a mistake it is Mathias Johnson that was com- 
mander of the Escort of 13 Waggon Load of provisions which we 
defeated at Chambli & took all the Provision — On Saturday a 
ship who sail'd from N. Y^ Bound for Falmouth with 8000 bush'^ 
of Wheat — put in for Stonington but run a ground of the mouth 
of the Harbour She lost her chain & mizen mast in the storm 
on the 10"^ of Sep"" & these easterly winds drove her in to Ston- 
ington) our Committee sent Cap*^ Niles in the arm'd schooner 
& Several Other Vessels to her assistance after Loading two 
Lighters she floated & they are towing of her in here to send to 
Norwich — we have Ace* from Liverpool by Way of N. York 
as late as the 7*"^ of Aug*^ which says a fleet has sailed from Eng- 
land to Embden to take in 10000 Hanoverians. & that several 
more Reg*^ from England & Ireland with one of Scots High- 
landers Commanded by Gen'^ Murray who may be expected in 
the Course of this month 

Your ace* of Church's Villiany made me shudder. Heav'ns 
what a scene of Villiany this it seems to me is sufficient to con- 
vince one there is an overuling hand of Providence — We have 



222 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

had a Copey of his Letters in Town I expect to be with you 
within a Fortnight desire the Maj*" to send me an order on 
the Commissary for a Drum, he refuses Give me one without — 

Sir am y''^ 



Sincere Friend 



P. S. Sally has gone home 
M" Hallam Betsey & the 
rest of the Family's Comp^^ 
to you 



J. H. 



To 

Lieu* Nathan Hale 
Maj Latimers Comp^ 
CoP Webb's Regt 
in Camp at Winter Hill 



Same to Same 

New London Dec'- 2^ 1775 
Dear Sir 

How is this? my messingers has come back & not aline from 
you? I've almost [as Agrippa said] a mind to brake of & not 
write a word to you, & for the good I shall do I had better; I feel 
like a Fool & of course my Letter must be nonsince, I write, not 
with a view of edifying you, nor of telling you news the first I 
can't do, & for news I've none to tell, well, what do I write for? 
Why to take this oppertunity to let you know that I am well 
hoping that these few Lines will find you in the same state of 
health. Ha, ha, ha, I'm fast aground; not another word can I 
remember when I began I tho* I could have fill'd half aside at 
least of good old fashion'd Letter stuff which has serv'd our honest 
ancestors (without altering a Single word) but Just transcribing 
for at least a Century 

I suppose you've had the particulars of Montreal's being in our 
possession, if not before you'll have it in our papers 

I am y'-^— J — H — 



APPENDIX 223 

give my comp*^ to Ensign Hurlburt tell him I have sent another 
p'' Buckles by the Post. Sunday noon George Hurlbutt has just 
arriv'd shall not send the Buckles — 

Cap* Nathan Hale 
Coll Webbs Regt 
p"" Post Winter Hill 



Same to Same 

p , „ . New London Dec"" 10'^ 1775 

bunday Evenmg 

Dear Sir 

I rec*^ yours by the Post, which tho' short, believe me was very 
acceptable; your being on Picquet is a sufficient excuse that you 
wrote no more — I must make an excuse for the shortness of mine 
of a similar kind ; we have at length concluded to intrench along 
our Street, from Cap* N. Douglass's to Cap* W'" Packwood, which 
we began Friday afternoon, on Saterday we work'd, & likewise all 
this Day occasion'd by an alarm ; & tomorrow & next Day we 
expect our Country Friends in to help us; we've had upwards of 
200 Volunteers to work. The Alarm /I mention'd/ was thus. 
Early this morning we rec^ an Express from Stonington, that a 
Ship & Tender was coming into their Harbour & several more 
was seen in the Offing, a few Hours after she made her appear- 
ance rond Eastern Point; Judge you of the confusion, I never 
saw greater nor did I ever see Men work with such spirit & 
prepare to fight with more resolution. 

I think it impossible that the same number of Men in the 
same time could do more work tho' most of us unus'd to the spade 
& Pick ax as witness my hands all of a Blister; the particulars of 
our proceedings I ned not mention, but you may depend on't we 
did every thing we could; but (to our great joy) by means of a 
spy Glass, as the ship drew nearer we discover'd her to be a 
Merchantman. 

Our assembly is call'd this week it's said to raise 2000 men /to 
supply the place of our Tr'oops that come away/ till the army 
can be form'd 



224 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

A Letter from M'' Vendervert says about 12 ton of Powder the 
Last week arriv'd at Philadelphia 

I had like to forgot to tell you that about 100 Men all Volun- 
teers have been at work this week past on the Ledge of rocks 
about half way from the waters edge to the top of Groton Hill 
down by Chester which Place they mean to fortify well, the Co' 
is likewise with his Men building a good Battery on Winthrops 
Neck, at the same time our intrenchments go on Briskly; thus you 
see We have at Length wak'd from our Lethargy — we have so 
many demands for men that your Comp^ fills slow Your Enf" 
has in all about 16 Your Lieut but few what George tells me he 
has wrote you is perhaps the reason of your Lieu* Poor success — 
the Col' Compy is not quite full. Shaw & Mumford by permit 
of the Congress have near a dozen vessels fitting out for Powder, 
Dudley Saltonstall beating up for volunteers as he is appointed 
Cap* of a thirty Gun Frigate by the Congress, Cap* N. Saltonstall 
is his first Lieu* there is a number of recruiting officers among us 
besides yours so that Your success is as good as you can expect — 
every Day brings ace*® of some Damage done our vessels by the 
Gale of the 9^^ to the Eastward, 10*^ on our Coast, & ll*'' of Sep"" 
to the Southward ; the southward the damage is almost incredible — 
when I sat down I did not expect to write so much, so I shall 
make no farther excuse for writing no more — 

am S^ Y« J. H. 

P. S. Comp*® from our Family — 



Ensign George Hurlbut to Hale at Camp 

New London Decem*" 11 *h 1775 
Kinde Sir — 

After Returning You My Sincere Thanks I would Inform You 
I Receiv'd Your Oblidging Letter Which was Dated of the 7*'* 
Instant wherein You Informb me the Soldiers was going Home A 
Sunday, I should be very Glad sir, if You would Inform me how 
The Minds of our Soldiers is when I came away They ware very 
Backward About Staying, When I was at Roxbury, they ware all 
in Confusion, they had About 30 Under Guard that was bound 



APPENDIX 225 

home, I was Almost Discou^ they ware all our Conneticut men, 
you May Depend upon it. Sir, they will all Return Again, their 
friends will Receive them Very Cool, they all Blame them very 
Much hear, their is some in our Company will Return Again I am 
very certain, their Parents has Enquired About them and should 
Be very Glad to see them, but not to stay Long, if they Don't 
Return Again they will be houted at all Along Street — I wrote 
you A Letter By John Holt concerning Fosdick I have Listed 
him A Private, he Listed upon these Tirms, if he could Git A 
Birth I was to Release him. He has had the offer of A Serj*^ in 
Roxbury But Inclin, if you Sir have not engage yours I Should 
be Glad if you would be kinde enough to Give him the Chance, 
he is a Good hearty fellow, And them are the Men we want, I 
will acquaint You A Little how they Go on hear, when I was at 
Breckfast Yesterday the news Come that their Was 4 ships Turn- 
ing Round fisher Island and The Old women began to Preach 
and Cry, we shall all Die, — By the Great Gun Bullets, I Have 
not took so much Pleasure since I Have Been hear, as I did Yeaster- 
day, I Long"^ for You to be hear, they all hands workt a Sunday — 
They have Begun to Intrench all A Long street 

But Least I should weary Your Patience I will Conclude with 
my Compliments to Capt Hull and the Maj'" if he is their 
From Your sincere Friende 

HURLBUT 

N. B. M"" Mumford has got Rum at 3 p"" gallon And Like- 
wise Sugar if you think it will Answer I will engage it, you must 
Let me Know By the next Post it is as cheap as any hear. 

[Letter not addressed nor endorsed.] 



Same to Same 

New London — Decern'- 17*^ 1775 
Dear Sir 

This Sarves to Inform you I Receivd yours of the IS*'' Date 
wherein you Inform'^ me you was upon Guard I Long to be with 
you, and hope to before Long. I Lott [ ?] out For to set of from 



226 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

N L on Tuesday with Death and the Cobler, I have the Advan- 
tage Of Them, for I Can Travel night and Day, the old white 
horse is better to Me Than A Lanthorn — our Soldiers, have All 
Arrived to the famous City of N L all Safe, they feel as big as 
Lord North as for Pat he Struts About Street Like Abore 
Pigg, with his tale Cut off You will expect news but their is 
but very Little hear excepting Last Thursday Departed this Life 
old Patrick Robertson, I must Inform you that I have not Seen 
Lieut Chapman But since I wrote you Last I must Also Inform 
you, that all hands is to work to Day upon the Neck by Dudly 
Salstonstall I have Got 2 loves of Sugar of Ned Hallam he tells 
me he will Supply me with the other Articels as Cheap as any one 
But Least I Should weary your Patience I will Conclude with my 
Regards to Corp Woodbridge And bothe James Ward and James 
Dennis and any other that Enquire after me 

From Your Sincere friend — 

Geo, H 

P. S. My farther and Mother Joines Me in Love to You 

To Cap* Nathan Hale 

David Mackduel has been put into the Brig N L | for Gitting 
Old Nat Williams Daughter with Child I was Informb to 
Day that the Soldiers Brok open the old Brig and Let him Loose, 
James Ward Can tell You the Vessels name — I have Seen David 
to Day and I Believe he will Come with me he Begs the favor 
of you if he Comes that you will make him your waiter 

To Capt Nathan Hale 
att 
Winter Hill 



Same to Same 

Camp Winter Hill Dec"" 28, 1775 Evening 
Dear Sir 

This Serves to Let you know that I Joind our Company Last 
Sunday and found them all In Good Spirits, I was very much 



APPENDIX 227 

Disappointed in not Seeing you Hear, I am now A Going to Set 
Out for Bunker Hill But I Shant Go with So much Pleasure as 
if you was to Be With me I have Drawn our Blank Money and 
Our Advance Pay and Left it with Capt Hull I am in Great 
Haste and So must Conclude with my Regards to You and any 
that you take to be my friends 

From your sincere friend 

G. Hurlbu[t] 

P. S. Give My Love to M"" Hallam and wife Likewise to John 
And Betey Remember my Love to Nat Richards and any other 
that Enquire after me — 

From your Good Old Friend 

G— H 
To Cap* Nathan Hale 
N L 
Please to Deliver the within 



Same to Same 

Camp Winter Hill Jan^ 4*^ 1776— 
How Fairs it Cap* — 

I have waited with A Great Deal of Patience expecting every 
Post would bring me a letter, as you are in Debt to me for one, 
I thought I Could not Dispense with my Duty unles I wrote 
you a few Lines to Let you Know how we Gos on hear we are 
all well Hear and in Good Spirits as ever I was very much 
unwel when Serj* Hempsted went away It was nothing but the 
effects of Bunker Hill I took a very Bad Coald that night Sir 
I hope the next Time I See you, it will be in Boston, a Drinking 
a glass of wine with me If we can but have A Bridge we shall 
Make a Push to Try our Brave Courage — I have Bad news to 
tell you Brown is Confind for Attempting to Run one of our 
men through the Heart with A Bag* His Behaviour is been so 
bad that I could not put up with it any Longer and I have Con- 
find him The Col,o has been to all the Cap* and says every One 
that behaves in Such a Manner Shall be Whipt and Drumbd out 



228 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

of Camp and, he has Desird me to write to you for To be Care- 
ful who you Inlist he was Confind Last week and would have 
been whip and Drumbd out of Camp if it had not been for theese 
orders It Come out in General orders that all Prisoners Should 
Be Dismist I have Got Clar of Deorrity and I Have Inlisted A 
Fifer and Could have Inlisted a Genteel Drummer if it had not 
have been For Remblington I wish*^ Chapman further of for 
Inlisting of him, but I am in hopes Remblington Will Learn the 
Ravillee yet — I have nothing worth Taking up Your Time to 
Read And So will Conclude with my Love to you 

From Your Sincere Friend 

G H 

P. S. Please To Give my Love to M""^ Latimer and Robert Like- 
wise to Nat Richard Except the Same to your self Due write as 
often as you can and you will oblidge your hum' Serv* G H — 
Let me know where Fosdick is and Maynard he is Loth to Come 
but you must Send him A Long I have Returnd Him their is 
Alpheus Chappel I Inlisted at N L if you think him worth 
Bringing 

You must Stop Browns wages to Pay For what he has Receivd 
out of The Continental Store I have Paid him Thirty Shillings 
and 6 s I Lent Him He will be Whipt and Drumb,d out of 
Camp 

I wish you A Happy New Year 

To 
Cap* Nathan Hale 
New London 
p'" fav"" of Corp' 
Woodbridge 



Robert Latimer to Hale at Camp 

Dr Sir, 

as I think myself under the greatest obligations to you for j^our 
care and kindness to me, I should think myself very ungrateful!, 
if I neglected any oppertunity of expressing my gratitude to you 



APPENDIX 229 

for the same. And I rely on that goodness, I have so often expe- 
rienc'd to overlook the deficiencies in my Letter, which I am sensi- 
ble will be many, as maturity of Judgment is wanting, and tho' 
I have been so happy as to be favour'd with your instructions, you 
can't Sir, expect a finish'd letter from one, who has as yet prac- 
tis'd but very litle this way, especially with persons of your nice 
discernment. 

Sir I have had the pleasure of hearing by the soldiers, which is 
come home, that you are in health, tho' likely to be deserted by 
all the men you carried down with you, which I am very sorry 
for, as I think no man of any spirit would desert a cause in which, 
we are all so deeply interested. I am sure was my Mammy willing 
I think I should prefer being with you, to all the pleasures which 
the company of my Relations Can afford me. 

I am Sir with respect y"" Sincere friend 
& very H'ble S* 
Dec'''- 20th 1775_ Rob^ Latimer. 

P. S. My Mammy & aunt Lamb [ ?] presents Complim*^ My 
Mammy would have wrote, but being very busy, tho't my writing 
would be Sufficient — My respects to Cap' Hull 
Addressed to Capt. Hale 
"att Winter Hill" per 
fav*" of Ens. Hurlbut. 



Same to Same 

New London March 5^^ 1776 
Dear Sir, 

as my letters meet with such kind reception from you, I still 
continue writing & hope that the desire I have of improving, 
added to the pleasure, I take in hearing often from so good a 
friend, will sufficiently excuse me for writing so often — I Rec'^ 
your kind letter S"" pr the post & can't deny but your approbation, 
of my writing, gives me the greatest pleasure, & should be afraid 
of its rais.K my pride ; did I not Consider that your intention in 
praising my poor performance, must be with a design, of raising 



230 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

in me an ambition, to endeavour to deserve your praise — & I hope 
that instructions convey'd in such an agreeable manner, will not, 

be throw^n away upon me You write S"" that you have got 

another Fifer, & a very good one too, as I hear. Which I am 
very Glad to hear, tho' I sincerely wish I was in his Place — 

Have not any News. 
So will Conclude — I am S"" 

with Respect Y*" friend & S't, 

Robert Latimer. 
P.S. 

My Mammy & Aunt 
Present Comp*^^ &c — 
Capt. Hale 



To 



(Endorsement) 



Capt 

Nathan Hale 
Att 
Roxbury — 

R. Latimer 

March 5th 1776 



"This endorsement is in the hand writing of the 
celebrated Capt Nathan Hale — "^ 

[Original in possession of George Dudley Seymour, Esq., New 
Haven, Conn. Now first printed.] 



David Mumford^ Jr., to Hale at Camp 

To Capt Nathan Hale Philad^ Nvem' 26 1775 

Sir 

Inclosed you have the Bill of the Breaches you desir'd me to 
get you when I was at Winter Hill, the B[r] caches I sent to my 
Fathers & I suppose he has forward'd befor this — 

1 The above note is in the handwriting of Dr. Sprague, the well- 
known collector of autographs about the middle of the last century. 



APPENDIX 231 

Nothing new transpiring only the Congress have fitted out a 
Ship of 30 guns which will be along your Coast 'er long — 
Conclude with giving my love to all Friends & Interim 
Remain Your Hble Servant 

David Mumford Jun'' 

P. S. Please write p every Opportunity that I may know what 
is going forward — 



Gilbert Saltonstall to Hale at Camp 

[New London, Oct. 2^ 1775] 
Esteemed Friend, 

Yours of 28'*^ duly Rec<^ am obliged for the Information 
therein, hope you will continue to inform me of anything new 
that turns up, for you know Hempsted retains nothing — 

By a Rhode Island Packet w** arriv'd here from N. York w^ 
Flour for the Camp we learn, y* General Schuyler had attack S* 
Johns and carried the outworks, that Guy Johnson was kill'd in 
the Engagem*. We every Hour expect to hear they are in pos- 
session of S*^ John, w'' Charlton &c. 

I enclose you a New York Paper by w'^ you'll see how matters 
go on to the Northward. 

If 3'ou can handily, should be oblig'd if you would send me the 
Rank of the Regim*^ in the Continental Army ; I hear it is settled, 
and handed about in Printed Handbills — 

I went to Lyme last Week to se[e] David &c the Girls ex- 
press'd a regard for you which I thought but a few removes from 
love. 

My Compliments to Ensign Nevins and any other old Friend 
of mine you shou'd chance to stumble upon As to Home News we 
are quite barren — We are extremely dull — Sunday reigns thro' 
the week — I am with Sincerity 

Your Friend &c 
Gilbert Saltonstall 
Lieut: Nathan Hale 

Roxbury 



232 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Same to Same 

New Lond'' Oct.° 9^^ 1775 
Dear Sir 

By yours of the 5*^ I see your're Stationd in the Mouth of 
Danger — I look upon y'' Situation more Perilous than any other 
in the Camp — Should have tho't the new Recreuits would have 
been Posted at some of the Outworks, & those that have been 
inured to Service advanc'd to Defend the most exposed Places — 
But all Things are concerted, and ordered w*'^ Wisdom no doubt — 
The Affair of D'' Church is truly amazing, from the acquaintance 
I have of his publick Character I should as soon have suspected 
M"" Hancock or Adams as him. 

Last Saturday a ship of 200 tun run aground off Stonington 
loaded w'' Wheat, its the Ship that some time ago purposely fell 
into the Hands of Wallace at Rhode Island w'* a load of Flower, 
she is owned by Christ° Champlin of Newport, when the Fishing 
Boats hail'd them they gave no reply, and soon after run on the 
Shoals as above, the Coms'" of Stonington went to unloading her 
immediately, & sent off per Cap* Niles who lay in this Harbour to 
come round to Stonington to protect her aganist any small Tender 
that shoud happen that way, he up Anchor and went round forth- 
with; the Ship is now in this Harbour (came in this morn.) her 
Cargo is principally taken out in lighters and sent to Norwich, 
where She will follow as soon as the Wind permits, for she can't 
beat up, having lost her Masts in the Gale of 10**^ Sepf. 

[Here follow extracts from a paper of October 7, which "young 
Doc* Mumford" had just brought from New York. They refer 
to army matters on the Canada line.] 

I have extracted all the material News should have sent the 
Paper but it's the only one in Town and every one is Gaping 
for News. 

You'll excuse the writing, as I am in a great hurry I scratch 
away as fast as I can — [Newspaper again mentioned.] 

Maj"" Mifflen pass'd thro' this Town Saturday last on his way 
to the Congress. 

Your Sincere Friend 

Gilbert Saltonstall 



APPENDIX 233 

Same to Same 

New London Oct° 16*^ 1775 
Dear Sir 

Inclose you the New York Paper — We have no Publick News — 
Nor private neither, save that yesterday the Parson declared, 
Marriage was intended between Thomas Poole and Eliz*^ Adams 
You must not charge the shortness of my Letter to a disinclina- 
tion of writing, but to the Real Cause, the Barreness of the 

Times 

I am with Esteem your Sincere 

Friend 
Gilbert Saltonstall 
To Lieu*^ Nathan Hale 
Winter Hill 



Same to Same 

New London Oct° 23^ 1775 
Dear Sir 

I give you a Copy of a Paragraph in Th° Mumfords letter to 
my Father "We have intelligence from S*^ Johns as late as the 7*^^ 
Ins* our Troops were recruited much, were in good Spirits, Bom- 
barding the Fort; a Nagotiation was on foot between the Besieg- 
ing and Besieged, Col° Allen was wounded and taken Prisoner 
near M* Real, & 20 of his Party out of Eighty missing." 

The Assembly have agreed upon an Association for every Man 
in the Colony to Sign, or have his name return'd to the next 
Assembly. 

They have Ordered the Company under Fathers Command to 
be enlisted again and to continue 'till the first of December — have 
Ordered the Battery Finish'd and the Guns bro't in — And Em- 
power'd him to draw upon the Treasurer for £100 to Compleat 
the Platform &c 

The follow^ is a list of the Nominations for Councillors Oct° 
1775, Reported by the Comt^*^ as duly Returned. 



234 



NATHAN HALE, 1776 



Honb'^ Jonath" Trumbull 


4144 


Joseph Spencer 


3692 


Math^ Griswold 


4325 


Oliver Wolcott 


3614 


Jab^ Hamlin 


3098 


Sam' Huntington 


3887 


EHsha Sheldon 


2778 


Erastus Wolcott 


2153 


EHph^ Dyer 


3658 


Sam' H. Parsons 


2129 


Jab^ Huntington 


3638 


Will'" Williams 


2875 


Willa Pitkin 


4180 


Rich'' Law 


2926 


Roger Sherman 


3772 


Dan' Sherman 


1853 


Abra™ Davenport 


3395 


Silas Deane 


1403 


W'" S. Johnson 


991 


Titus Hosmer 


1061 



The Assby have Order'd a Tun of Pounder for the N. Lond" 
Battery — Nothing further of Publick Import — Sheriff Christo- 
phers is at the Point of Death. This w^ill be handed you by D. 
Mumford who is upon a visit to the Camp — Y"" &c 

G. Saltonstall 
Lieut* 
N. Hale 



Same to Same 
Esteemed Friend 

Your various letters duly Received, it was no unwillingness in 
me that prevented my answ"" them in course — The honest Reason 
though not a reputable one, I know will excuse me to you, I'll 
therefore give it. I defer'd and defer'd to the last mom*^ and then 
something turn'd up tantamount to a sore Finger and in fact pre- 
vented me. 

The Gov*" & Council of Safety gave orders last Week for the 
Company in this Town to be continu'd to the sitting of the next 
Assembly, or 'till further Orders from S*^ Council — They ap- 
pointed a Comt^ to set about erecting Fortifications at Win- 
throp's Neck, Groton Hill, & Shaws Neck. The above Company 
to be improvd in raising the Works &c — the Comt^ are "Co'° G. S. 
Ebenez*" Ledyard Esq'' M'" Park Avery, Mr. Jn° Deshon M' 
Nath' Shaw J'" and M'' Josiah Waterous." The last the Council 
seem to rely on as an Engineer but as Sam' Whittemore say'd, I 
Quere &c for he says that Fifty Men will raise a proper Fortifica- 



APPENDIX 235 

tion at either of S*^ Places in three Weeks from this; which you 
know is impracticable at this advanced Season of the year. 

Commodore Hopkins has gone to Phil^ to take charge of the 
Fleet, the Report is that Gov""^ Dunmore and Martin are to be 
convoy'd by him to Phil^ — Success attend him. 

Docf Church is in close Custody in Norwich Goal, the Win- 
dows boarded up, and he deny'd the use of Pen, Ink, and Paper, 
to have no converse with any Person but in presence of the Goaler, 
and then to Converse in no Language but English. Good God 
what a fall — 

You saw in the Paper the Address to the King from the Merch*^ 
&c of Manchester — Notwithstanding their pretending their Re- 
sources are many, and so large that the American Nonimportation 
& exportation will be like the light dust of the Ballance, yet to 
every one who will turn it in his Thoughts, it's utterly impossible 
but that y*= prodigeous Consumption of British Wares & Merchan- 
dize from Georgia to Nova Scotia, encluding Canady, the Reduc- 
tion of w'' I consider as already completed must affect them sensi- 
bly, and they must recognize the consequence of America — 

I wish New York was either ras'd to the Foundation, or strongly 
garison'd by the American Forces; I greatly fear the Virtue of 
the Yorkers whose Religion is Trade, & whose God is Gain. 

When the Army is new modled send me a List of the Ar- 
rangem*^ Are any of the Connecticut Companys to be disbanded? 
the Majors &c what are to become of them? 

My Compliments to S. Webb, and Hull and other Friends — 
Hempsted will wait no longer — Good b'y'e write me all the News 
you Can muster 

y*" &c 
Nov^ 27*1^ 1775 

Gilbert Saltonstall 



Same to Same 

New London Dec-- A^^^ 1775. 
Dear Sir 

Hempsted tells me he did not see you the last Week, but by 
Sergeant Hurlbut who got home yesterday forenoon I learn you 



236 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

are well, & conclude that Business of importance took up your 
time. 

The behaviour of our Connectic* Troops makes me Heart sick — 
that they who have stood foremost In the praises and good Wishes 
of their Countrymen, as having distinguished themselves for their 
Zeal & Publick Spirit, should now shamefully desert the Cause; 
and at a critical Moment too, is really unaccountable — amazing. 
Those that do return will meet with real Contempt, with deserv'd 
Reproach — It gives great satisfaction that the Officers universally 
agree to tary — that is the Report, is it true or not? May that 
God who has signally appear'd for us since the Commencement 
of our troubles, interpose, that no fatal, or bad Consequence may 
attend a dastardly Desertion of his Cause — ^ 

I want much to have a more minute Ace* of the Situation of 
the Camp than I have been able to obtain, I rely wholly on you for 
information — 

Sally was Married last Night Docf Coits wife is very ill — 
dangerous. 

We have nothing of importance in Town in the military way 
to acquaint you of, expect the ships that are at New Port along 
this way, whenever the Maggot takes them. My Compliment to 
Hull &c— 

Your G. Saltonstall 



Same to Same 

New London Dec-" 18*^ 1775 
D^ Sir 

Yours of the 13*^ Ins* duly rec'l for which am greatly obliged. 
The Post was not in fault for not handing you a letter from me 
last Week, he could not deliver what he never was possess'd of. — 

1 There are several references in these letters to the conduct of some 
of the Connecticut soldiers in November and December, 1775. It appears 
that they complained of poor food, unkept promises, and a detention in 
camp beyond their term of enlistment. They went home on their own 
account, and were ridiculed, hooted at and branded as deserters. Most 
of them, however, returned, and the Connecticut regiments were as large 
as any in the new army. 



APPENDIX 237 

last Post Day I was at Wethersfield w^ occasioned y"" having no 
letter from me 

I wholly agree with you in y^ agreables of a Camp Life, and 
should have try'd it in some Capacity or other before now, could 
my Father carry on his Business without me. I propos'd going 
with Dudley, who is appointed to Comm^ a Twenty Gun Ship in 
the Continental Navy, but my Father is not willing, and I can't 
persuade myself to leave him in the eve of Life against his consent. 

In speaking of Company you say "We may have that of our 
equals, or more know^ and some ean of less knowing." Am I to 
apply the latter clause to those (I would not choose to name 
them) who prefer Grogg and Noise to the calm Disquisitions of 
Wisdom & Instruct", or to a certain Major who has not a capa- 
city to improve? Tho' I have been absent this week past, yet I 
can give you a Detail of Transactions in that Time 

Yesterday week the Town was in the greatest confusion imag- 
ineable; Women wringing their Hands along Street, Children 
crying, Carts loaded 'till nothing more would stick on posting out 
of Town, empty ones driving in, one Person running this way, 
another that, some dull, some vex'd, none pleas'd, some flinging up 
an Intrenchment, some at the Fort preparing y^ Guns for Action, 
Drums beating. Fifes playing; in short as great a Hubbub as at the 
confusion of Tongues; all this occasioned by the appearance of a 
Ship and two Sloops off the Harbour, suppos'd to be part of Wal- 
laces Fleet. — When they were found to be (Friends) Vessels from 
New Port with Passengers y^ consternation abated, and all fell to 
work at the Intrenchment, which runs from N. Douglasses to 
S. Bills Shop, they have been at work eversince Yesterday Week 
when the Weather would permit, they work'd Yesterday at Win- 
throps Neck and are [at] it there today. — In some respects we are 
similar to a Camp, for Sunday is no Day of rest now. — You 
would hear the small Chaps (who mimick Men in everything they 
can), cry out "Cut down the Tories Trees" there is not one of 
Cap* Jo: Coits Willows remaining in his Lot back of his House, 
they are appropriated to a better use than he would ever have 
put them to — The Breastwork is much the better for them. 

I might inform you of many little bickerings that occur daily, 
but as those who raise them are of no importance, and the Evils 



238 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

(if any) are only local, it is not worth while to repeat them: Be- 
sides, you know y^ Genius of the Town is a restless discontented 
Spirit. 

When I have observ'd the Malice and Envy which rages to a 
Flame in so many Breasts, the Slander, the illeberal & ungenerous 
Reflections which serve as Fuel to those Hellish Vices, I lament 
the Depravity of the Human Heart, and fall little short of a 
Misanthropist: But when I come across a Person of Candour, 
Reason, Justice and Sincerity with their attendant Virtues (I'd 
almost said a Person of either of those Endowments.) I feel a 
generous glow within me despise the base light in w*^ I view'd 
Human Nature, & become reconcil'd to my species. 

I have frequently desir'd you would send me an arrangement of 
the Continent' Army, but as you have omitted it, conclude it is 
not yet compleated. 

What Brigadier has quitted y^ Service, I learn there is a 
Vacancy ? 

The Soldiers can give no other Reason for not Enlisting, than 
the old woman's, they wou'd not, cause the[y] wou'd not. 

My Compliments to Cap* Hull, am very sorry to hear of his 
Illness, hope this will find him recruited. 

I am with Sincerity 
Your Friend 
Gilbert Saltonstall 
P. S. the young Girls, B. Coit 
S. & P. Belden have frequently desir'd 
their complim*^ to Master, but I've 
never thought of mentioning it till 
now — ^You must write someths in your 
next by way of P. S. that I may show it 
them. 

Capt N. Hale 



Same to Same 



[New London, March 18, 1776] 
[A Saltonstall letter of this date was sold at auction at Phila- 
delphia, April 15, 1913.] 



APPENDIX 239 

Church & Hallam, of New London, to Hale 
Sir 

M"" Shaw has promis'^ us to pay some money in New York, 
which if you receive in whole or in part Apply in the following 
manner, viz. pay M'' David Seabury mercht. £50. Lawfull money, 
to Mess-- Van Vleck & Kip, £ 37 - 10 in lawful which is £50 
York The Ball^ £ 62 . . 10 — pay to Elias Desbrosses Esq"" 
mercht, if you do not receive but £100 Lawfull in stead of £150. 
omit paying to Van Vleck & Kip any Thing, if you will call on M"" 
Shaw and transact the Business for us you will do us a kindness, 
pleas to take Rec'^ of those you pay to, on our Account & send 
them us p'' the first Opportunity p'" post — which will much 

o^l^g^ c- u Ule c t 

bir your humbl*^ berv"^ 

Church & Hallam 

Cap* Nath" Hale 

New London 26^^ March 1776— 



Lieutenant John Belcher to Hale 

jj. Stonington, July 27'*^ 1775. 

oir, 

These may inform you that since I saw you, Ensign Hillard 
and myself have enlisted Twenty two Men, and as my cash is 
pretty much exhausted, should be glad of a Supply as soon as pos- 
sible, and should be glad you would inform me by a Line what 
progress you have made in the Enlisting Way, and when I must 
stop my hand, and should be glad if our Company is not near 
compleated, you would send me over some more Blanks, as I 
expect next Monday, to make my Number, 30, at least, and I 
understand we are to march next week, and the greatest part 
of the Men I have enlisted are destitute of Guns, suitable to 
carry, which we ought to make timely provision for. These from 

your humb'^ serv* ,. „ 

John Belcher — ,. 

Addressed: "To 

Lieu. Nathaniel Hale | New London." 

[Original in possession, 1901, of the late Mr. W. F. Havemeyer, 
New York.l 



240 NATHAN HALE. 1776 



Hale's Army Diary, 1775-76 

[The original diary is in possession of the Connecticut Historical 
Society, Hartford. Stuart includes it in his work, but it is reprinted here 
as corrected from the MSS. A leaf or two may be missing at the begin- 
ning, as the first entry shows that he had been on the march two or 
three days — Waterman's, where he stopped September 23, 1775, being 
near the Rhode Island line. Owing to the font of type in use, the periods 
and commas under the small superior letters, Colo, etc., have been 
omitted.] 

[Sept. 23^1, 1775] 

Cannon 40 or 50 heard from the last stage to the present 
march'd Zy^ O'O arr'' Watermans (a private house and entertain- 
ment good) after a stop or two 6^/2 O'O 6 m [6 miles] — tarryed 
alnight 

24th Mchd 6 O'O & at 8 OO reach'd Olneys 4 m. 10 O'O- 
mch"^ from Olneys 2 miles & reach'd Providence but made no 
stop. Having march'd thro the town with music, & mde a sht 
stp at the hither part, in the road, came 4 miles further to Slack's 
in Rehobo[th] where we dined. 4 O'O- mch'^ from Slack's 6 m 
and reach^ Daggetts in Attleborough & put up, depositting our 
arms in the mtt^ House — Soon after our arrival join'd by the 
Maj"" who set out from home the nt bef — ^ 

25*'^ March'd soon after sunrise — & came very fast to Dupee 
in Wrentham 9 m to Breakfast, arv^^ 9 O'O. 11 set off & 1>4 
P M arv^ Hidden Walpole & there din'd and tarried till 4^ 
O'O then march'd to Dedham — 7 m and put up. 

Tuesday 26''^ mch'd 5 m before Breakfast to — 
For Dinner went 4^/2 m to Parkers — which is within a mile 
& a half from Camp 

At our arrival in Camp found that 200 men had been draughted 

1 Among Hale's cash items, September 24, 1775, is the receipt by 
Eliphalet Slack, at Rehoboth, from "Nathan Hale Lieut, of Majr Lati- 
mer's Company five shillings and ten pence lawful money for the use 
of my house & other trouble by sd. Company." 



APPENDIX 241 

out that morning for a fishing party — Pitched our tents for the 
present in Roxb^ a h'ttle before sunset — ^ 

Wednesday 27'^ Went to some of our lower works — 
12 or 15 of y^ fishing party return & bring 11 Cattle & 2 
horses — 

Thursday 28 Fishing party return'd 

Friday 29*'' mch^ for Cambridge, arv'd 3 O'C & encamped on 
the foot of Winter hill near General Sullyvans 3 com'^^ [com- 
panies] Maj''^ C* [Captain] Shipmans, Bostw[ick] 

Sat. 30*'' Considerable firing upon Roxbury side in the fore- 
noon & some P. M. No dam^^ done as we hear. Join'd this 
day by Cp*^ Perrit & Levnwth [Leavenworth] about 4 O'C- — 

Octo. 6*'' 1775 Near 100 Can^ fired at Roxbury from the 
Enemy. Shot off a man's arm & kill'd one cow — 

7*^^ Some firing from Boston neck, nil mat. 

8 Sab. 

A. M. rainy no meets M"" Bird pr. [preached] Watertown. 
P. M. went to meet^ on the hill M"" Smith p"" 

9 Mon. 

Morns Clear & pleas* but cold, exers^ men 5 O'C- 1 h — 

Tuesday 10*^ 

Went to Roxbury, dined with Doc*"" Wolcott at General Spen- 
cer's Lodgs^ P. M. rode down to Dorchester, with a view to go 
on upon the point ; but Col' Fellows told us he could give us no 
leave as we had been informed in town. Return'^ to Camp 6 O'C- 

Wed. llfi 

Bro"" Joseph here in the morning — went to Cam^^ 12 O'C- 
sent a letter to Bro"" Enoch by Sam' Turner Inform'd by Jop'' 

^ At Wrentham, Hale paid 6 shillings for the use of Mr. Charles 
Dupee's house; at Walpole, 5 shillings to Jonathan Hide [?]; at Attle- 
borough, 6 shillings to Thomas Daggett for house and firewood; at 
Roxbury, 26*^, paid Ebenr Whiting Jun^ 12 shillings for use of house 
and dinner for the Company. 



242 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

that he was to be examin'd to day for p*".^ Saw Royal Flynt. pr<^ 
to write him. Rec'^ a letter from Gil. Salt' & w*^ inf"^ y^ Schooner 
by S* Johns taken, all y« men kll<^ & y*^ 8000 bush'^ wheat had bn 
taken & carried to Norwich f"^ Chris [topher] Champlin's ship 
run agr'l at Ston^^" 

Reed letter 9^^ from Gil. Salt' 

Do 9th fm John Hallam 

8th E Hale 

A heavy thun"" shw*" in y^ evens 

Thurs. 12 

Wrote 6 letters to N. L. saw O [Colonel] Sage, inf™'^ Mon- 
treal held by Montgomery St. Johns ofif*^ to Capitulate but refus- 
ing to Deliver Guns Johns" ['s] terms were refused: but must 
soon surrender — 

P. M. went into Cambridge. Took the Camb^e Paper p<^ 3 
Coppers. 

Friday 13 

Infmd by ]J Col' [Hall] that CoP Webb last night gave orders 
that Field Officers Lieutenants shou'*^ ware yellow Ribbons — put 
in one accordingly. wlk<i to Mis^ [Mystick] for Clothes. In- 
form'd p[er] D"" Roseter, Wallace trim'd by Capt. Hall, false 

Sat. 14th 

Mounted picket guard. Gov*" Griswold at plough'^ hill rumours 
of 25,000 troops from England. 

Sab. 15th 

M"" Bird pr. P. M. after meeting walk'd to Mistick. 

Tuesday 17*^^ 

A Serg* Major deserted to the Regulars. 

Wed. 18th 

A Private deserted to the enemy last night. — a cannon split in 
our floats battery when firS upon B. [Boston] Common 1 of our 

1 This "pr" must mean preaching. In other words, Joseph had 
informed Nathan that this was the day set for Enoch to pass the usual 
candidate's examination for license to preach. 



APPENDIX 243 

men kill'd another said to be mortally wounded. 6 or 1 more 
wounded — Rec*^ Letters 

G. Saltonstall 16*^ 

J. Hallam 14*^ 

E. Hallam 15'^ 

E. Adams 16th 

In M"" Salt^' Letter rec*^ News of the publishment of Thomas 
Poole & Betsy Adams, on ^^ 15^^ 

Thursday 19*^ 

Wrote 4 letters To Mess-'^ G. Salt^ & John Hallam & to 
Misses Betsies Adams & Hallam — 3 people inhabitants of Bos- 
ton s^ to have escaped on Rox^ side last night. Several guns were 
fired at them which were heard here at Winter hill. This 
morning one of our horses wand'* down near the enemy's lines, 
but they durst not venture out to take him on account of Rifle 
[men] placed at y^ old Chim^ ready to fire upon them. A sick 
man at Temples found to have the small pox — 

Friday 20^^ 

Wet & rainy. News from Roxbury y* 9 persons, 5 of them 
inhabitants, & 4 of them Sailors made their escape last night 
from Boston to Dorchester Point, Who bring accounts y* 10,000 
Hanoverians & 5,000 Scotch & Irish Troops are hourly expected in 
Boston. P[er] Cp* Perrit ret^ sunset from Connecticut News 
y* Col. Jos*^ Trumbull Comm^ Gen' was at the p^ of Death. 

Sat 2pt 

Constant rain & for y^ most part hard for y^ whole day. A 
letter communicated to the off''^ of y^ Reg* f™ G. Washingf^ 
to Col. Webb with orders to see what Off""^ & men will extend 
y^ term of th"" service f'" 6**^ Decem'' to 1^* Jan^ — Col. Webb 
issu'd ord""® for removing a man who was yesterday descover'd to 
have y^ small pox from Temples h[ouse] to y^ hospital, but the 
Of""^ remonstrate suspended his orders. — Sun set clear. — 

Sab. 22d 

Mounted picquet Guard, had charge of the advance Pequet. 
Nil mem. Mistick Comm^ refus'd to del'" provs"^ to Comp'^® 
which had had nothing for y^ day. on which Cpt. Tuttle & 60 



244- NATHAN HALE, 1776 

or 70 men went, & as it hap'^'^ terror instead of force obtain'd the 
provisions. On Pequet heard Reg''^ at work with pick axes. One 
of our Gentries heard their G. Rounds give the Countersign which 
was Hamilton. Left P. guard and ret^ to Cp. at sunrise on the 

23d Mon— 

10 O'O went to Cambridge w^^^ Fid Com^" officers to Gen' 
Putnam, to let him know the state of the Reg*^ & y* it was thro 
ill usage upon the Score of Provisions y*^ th^ wld not extend th"" 
term of service to the 1^*^ of Jan^ 1776. — 

Din'd at Browns dr'^ 1 bottle wine walk'd about street, call'd 
at Josh. Woodbridges on my way & ref^ home abt. 6. O'C — rec^ 
confirmation of day before yesterdays report y* Cpt. Coit mde an 
Admiral— Reed Let. Ed Hallam 15*^ [?] 

24th Tuesday 

Some rain. W*^ to Mistick with Clothes, to be washed (viz 
4 Shirts D° Necks 5 pair Stockings. 1 Napkin 1 Table Cloth 1 
Pillow Case 2 Linen & 1 Silk Handkerchiefs) P. M. Got Brick 
& Clay for Chimney. Winter Hill came down to wrestle w'* 
view to find our best for a wrestling match to which this hill was 
stumped by Prospect, to be decided on Thursday insu^ Evening 
praj^ers omitted for Wrestling 

25 Wednesday — no letters 

26 Thursday 

grand Wrestle on Prospect Hill no wager laid 

Friday 27^^ 

Mess""^ John Hallam k David Mumford. arv'^ 

Sat 28th 

Somewhat rainy. 

Sab. 29 

Went to meeting in the barn — one exercise. After meeting 
walk'd with Cpt Hull & M"" Hallam to Mistic. 

Sat 28*h At night Serg*^ of the enemy's guard deserted to us. 

Monday 30^^ 

Some dispute with the Subalterns, about Cpt Hull & me acting 
as Captains. The Col. [&] Lieut Col. full in it that we ought 



APPENDIX 245 

to act in that Capacity. Brigade Maj'' & Gen' Lee of the same 
opinion. Presented a petition to Gen' Washington, for Cpt Hull 
& myself requesting the pay of Cpts. refus'd. Mr Gurley Here 
at Din*" P. M. Went into Cambridg with M"" Mumford. 

Tuesday 31 

Wrote letter to Father & Brothers John & Enoch. P. M. 
Went to Cambridge, dr. wine &c at Gen' Putnams. 

Wednesday Novem. 1^*^ 

Mounted Pequet guard, nil mem 

Rec'd 3 Letters fr'" S. Belden G. Salt. & Betsy Hallam. The 
jst I'nf™^ he had no Scarlet Coating &c also reminded me of 
20Y due to him by way of change of a 40^ Bill reed for School- 
ing (forgot) 2^ inf'"^ that (as p Philadelphia paper) Payton 
Randolph died of an Apoplexy 22*^ ult. 3^ inf"^ Sheriff Christo- 
pher [of New London] is dead. 

Wed, l^t 

Came off from Pequet Guard 10 O'C 11 do w^ to Cms« with 
Cpt. Hull, dined at Gen' Putnams w^ M"" Learned. Inf^ M"" 
Howe died at Hartford 2 months ago, not heard of before. 

Col Parsons Reg* under arms to suppress y^ mutinous pro- 
ceedings of Gen Spencers Reg' one man hurt in y^ neck by a 
bayonet, (done yesterday), ret*^ to Camp 6 O'C. — 

Thursday 2^ 

Rain constantly some times hard. Receiv'd a flying Report 
that the Congress had declared independency. 

Friday 3^ Nil mem — 

Sat. 4th 

M*" Learned with myself din'd at Col. Halls'. Deac" Kings- 
bury's son visited me. P. M. Cpt Hull & I w*^ to Prospect Hill. 

Sunday 5*'^ 

A. M. M'' Learned pr. John 13. 19. excellentissime. A little 
after twelve a considerable number of cannon from the Enemy 
in memory of the day. Din'd w* Cpt. Hull at Gen' Putnam's 
Reed news of the taking of Fort Chamble with 80 odd Soldiers, 



246 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

about 100 women & children, upwards of 100 barrels of Powder, 
more than 200 barrels of pork, 40 D° of flower 2 Mortars & some 
cannon. The women, wives to Officers in S*^ Johns, who were 
brought to S' Johns & there their Husbands permitted to come out 
and after spending some time w^ them return. Also News of 
vessel taken by one of our privateers fr. Phi^ to B-n w*'^ 10^^ 
pipes of wine, another from the West Indies with the produce of 
that Country. Reed a letter from bro. Enoch Nov. P* Coventry 
p[er] Dan' Robertson, who is to make me a visit to morrow. 
The paper in which the Officers sent in their names for new com- 
missions return'd for more Subalterns. Ens" Pond & put 

down th"" names. Those who put down their nam[es] the first offer, 
Col^ Webb & Hall, Cpts Hoyt, Tuttle, Shipman, Boswick, Perrit 
Levenworth Hull & Hale. Subs. Catland, [Catlin] 

Monday 6*'' 

Mounted Pequet guard in y^ place of Cpt Levenworth. A 
Rifleman deserted to y^ Regulars. Some wet. Day chiefly spent 
in Jabber & Chequers. Cast an eye upon Young's Mem^ belongs 
to Col. Varnum — a very good book. Comp* of y^ bad condition 
of y^ lower Pequet by Maj'' Cutter, &c. 

It is of the utmost importance y* an Officer should be anxious 
to know his duty, but of greater that he shd carefully perform 
what he does know: The present irregular state of the army 
is owing to a capital neglect in both of these. — 

Tuesday 1^^ 

Left Pequet 10 OO — Inf^ Maj'" Brooks app^^^ for this Reg* 
new Establishment wh occasd much uneasiness among y^ Cpts. 
Rain pretty hard most of the day. Spent most of it in y^ Maj"" 
my own & other tents in conversation — (some chequers) Studied 
y^ best [ ?] method of forming a Reg* for a review, manner of 
arranging y^ Companies, also of mchg round y^ review^ Officer. 

A man ought never to lose a moments time. If he put oliF a 
thing f'" one minute to the next his reluctance is but increas'd. — 

Wednesday 8*'' 

Clean'd my gun — pld some football, & some chequers. Some 
People came out of Boston via Rox^^ Reed N. of Cpt. Coits 



APPENDIX 247 

taking two prizes with Cattle poultry hay, rum, wine &c &c. also 
verbal accounts of the taking of S*^ Johns. 

Thursday 9'^ 

1 O'O P. M, An alarm. The Regulars landed at Leech- 
more's point to take off Cattle, our works were immediately all 
mann'd & a detachment sent to receive them, who were oblig'd, 
it being high water, to wade through water near wast high. 
While the Enemy were landing, we gave them a constant Can- 
nonade from Prospect Hill. Our party having got on to the 
point, marched in two Columns, one on each side of y^ hill with 
a view to surround y^ enemy but upon the first appearance of 
them, they m*^ their boats as fast as Possible. While our men 
were marching on to y^ poin* they were exposed to a hot fire 
from a ship in the bay & a floating Battery, also after they had 
passed the Hill. A few Shot were fired from Bunker's Hill. 
The damage on our side is the loss one Rifleman taken & 3 men 
wounded one badly, & it is thought 10 or more cattle carried 
off. The Rifleman taken was drunk in a tent in which he & 
the one who reed the worst wound were placed to take care of y^ 
Cattle Horses &c & give notice in case y'^ enemy should make 
an attemP' upon them. Y^ tent they were in was taken. What 
the loss was on the side of the enemy we cannot yet determine. — 
At night met with the Cpts of y^ new establishment at Gen' — 
Sull}'vans to nominate Subalterns. Lieut*^ Bourbank of Col' 
Doolittles Reg* mde my P* U Serg* Chapman 2^ & Serg*^ Hurlbut 
Ens" 

Friday 10*^ 

Went upon the hill to see my new Lieu*^ Bourbank & found 
him to be no great things. On my return, found that my Br. & 
Joseph Strong had been here & enquired for me. immediately 
after dinner went to Cambr. to see them but was too late. Went 
to head quarters, saw Gen' Sullyvan, & gave him a description of 
my new L* h said h wd mk inquiry concer'ng him. On my 
return fd [found] the abv L* at my tent agr'^'^ to my invitation. 
After much round abt talk pursuaded him to go with me to y^ 
Gen' to desire to [be] excused from the service. Y^ Gen' not 
being at hom[e] deferr'd it 'till anoth time. 



248 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Saturday 11'^ 

Some disputes about the arrangement of Subs — but not peace- 
able settled 

Sunday 12'^ 

This morning early a meeting of Cpts — upon y^ above matter, 
& not ended untill near noon. No meetting A. M. P. M. M"" 
Bird pr. 

Monday 13*^ 

Our people began to dig turf under Coble Hill. Inlistments 
delivered out. At night a man of our Reg* attempted to desert 
to the Reg""^ but was taken. 

Tuesday 14'^ 

Some uneasiness about Subs. P. M. went to Cambr, nil-mem. 
Gen' Orders of to day contain'd an account of the reduction of 
St. Johns. Digs Sods under Coble Hill Continued. 

["Directions for the Guards" copied in here by Hale.] 

Wednesday 15*^^ 

Mounted Main Guard. Heard read the articles of Surrend of 
S* Johns. Likewise an accou"' of the repulse of our piratical 
enimies at Hampton in Virginia, with the loss of a number of 
men (in a handbill). Three deserters made their escape from 
Boston to Roxby last night. Two prisoners were taken this 
afternoon in the orchard below Plough'd Hill who with some 
others were getting apples. They bring accounts that it was 
reported in Boston that our army at S' Johns was intirely cut 
off. That last week when they attempted to take our Cattle at 
Sewels pint they kill'd 50 or 60 of our men wounded as many 
more & had not a man either kill'd or wounded whereas in truth 
we had only one that was much wounded & he is in a way to 
recover. Reed a letter from J. Hallam: 

Thursday 16*^ 

Relieved from Pequet Sj/^ O'C. confined James Brown of 
Cpt. Hubbel's Company for leaving the guard which he did 
yesterday towards night k did not return untill 4 O'C this 
morning when he was taken up by the Centinal at the door of 
Temple's House as it appeared he was somewhat disguised with 



APPENDIX 249 

liquor ordered him confined & reported. [On margin : Con' 
Thanksgiving. P. reinforced] 

Thursday 16'^ 

Wrote two letters 1 To J. Hall"^ & 1 to G. Salt'. It being 
Thanksgiving in Connecticu* The Cp'^ & officers in nomination 
for the new army had an entertainment at T^ House, provided 
Cpt. Whitney's Suttler. They were somewhat merry & inlisted 
some Soldiers. I was not present — 

About 10 or 11 O'O at night orders came for reinforcing the 
Pequet with 10 men from a Com^ 

Friday 17*^ 

Reed an order from Colonel Hall for taking up at the con- 
tinental Store 4 pr Breeches 6 D° Stock^^ 5 D^ Shoes, 1 Shirt 1 
buff Cap 1 pr India" Stock^'^ 5^4 y'^^ of Coat^ — all which I got 
but the Yd Shirt Indian Stock^^ \%. Coat^ & Shoes which are to 
come tomorrow morn^ Cpt. Hull w"' some of his Sol''^ went w'^ 
me to Camb^"-" — Return'd after dark. Stop'd at Gen' Lee's to 
see about Furl^ for men enlisted who ordered y^ gen' orders for 
the day to be read by which Furloughs are to be given by Col'^ 
only & not more than 50 at a time must have them out of a Reg' 
Gen' orders further contain'd that the Congress had seen fit to 
raise the pay of the officers from what they were & y' a Cpt upon 
the new establishment is to receive 26^ Dollars p month a 1 
& 2d Lieut. 18 Dollars & an Ens" Uy^ Dollars. [On margin: 
Co' Halls Ord"- Q M G.— Gen' Orders Furlows &c.— Officers 
Wages] 

Saturday IS"* 

Obtained an order from Colo. Webb upon the Q M G. for 
things for the Soldiers. Went for them after noon returned a 
little after Sunset. — [On margin: Drawing Q M G.] 

Sabbath Day 19"^ 

M"" Bird p*" one Service only beginning after 12 O'C Text 
Esther 8"^ 6 For how can I indure to see the evil that shall come 
unto my people? or how can I indure to see the destruction of my 
kindred ? The discourse very good, the same as preach'd to Gen' 
Wooster, his Officers & Soldiers at New Haven & which was 
again preach'd at Cambridge a Sabbath or two ago. — Now preach^ 



250 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

as a farewell discourse. Robert Latimer the Maj""^ Son went 
to Roxbur}' to day on his way home. The Majr who went there 
to day & L* Hurlbut & Robert Latimer F. who went yesterday 
return'd this even^ b* ac*^ that the Asia Man of War Station'd 
at N. York was taken by a Schooner arm'd with Spear's &c which 
at first appeared to be going out of the Harbour & was br*^ too 
by y^ Asia & instead of com^ under her stern just as she came up 
Shot along side, the men which were before conceal'd imme- 
diately sprung up with their lances &c and went at it with such 
vigour that they soon made themselves masters of the ship. The 
kill'd & wounded not known. This account not creditted. Serg* 
Prentis thought to be dying about 12 Meridian, some better if 
any alterat" this evening. [On margin : Asia man of war taken] 

Monday 20*^ 

Obtain'd Furlough's for 5 men (viz) Isaac Hammon Jabez 
Minard Christopher Beebe John Holmes & William Hatch, each 
for 20 Days. Mounted m" Guard, 4 Prisoners, nil mem. on till 
10 OC when an alarm fr Camb*" & Prospect Hill occasioned our 
turning out. Slept little or none. 

Tuesday 21^*^ 

Reliev'd by Cpt Hoyt. Sergn^ Prentis very low. Colo, and 
some Cpts went to Cambr to a Court M. to Cpt. Hubbel's Trial 
adjournd from Yesterday to day. even^ spent in conversation. 

Wednesday 22^^ 

Sergt. Pentis died about 12 O'C last night. Trj^ed to 
obtain a furlough to go to Cape Ann and keep Thanksgiving, but 
could not succeed. Being at Gen' Sullyvans, heard Gen' Green 
read a letter from a member of the Congress, expressing wonder 
at the Backwardness of the Of^ & Soldiers to tarry the winter — 
likewise informing that the men inlisted fast in Pensylvania & y^ 
Jersies for 30 s. [ ?] p month. Some hints dropt as if there was 
to be a change of the [Leaf missing.] 

Saturday 25 

Last night 2 sheep kill[ed] belongs to the En"^y — this morning 
considerable firing between the Centuries. A Rifleman got a Dog 
from the Regulars. Col. Varnum offer'd a Guinea for him, the 
[price] that Gen' Lee had offerd. 10 O'C A. M. went to Cobble 



APPENDIX 251 

Hill to view. Another brought to the Ferry way (two there 
now). P. M. went to Camb'' Ret^ Sunset. This evening reed 
Accts that Col. Jedadiah Huntington's wife had hanged herself 
at Dedham. She had been delirious for the greater part of the 
time since he entered the Service, & was to come to Dedham to see 
him. He met her there, found her as rational as ever, but within 
an hour after he left her, the melancholy tidings followed of her 
having hanged herself. Heard further that 200 or 300 poor 
people had been set on shore last night by the Regulars, the place 
not known, but sd to be not more than 6 or 8 mile from hence. 
Cannon were heard this forenoon seeming to be ofif in the bay 
and at some distance.— Observ'd in coming from Cambr. a num- 
ber of Gabines at Gen' Lee's, said to be for the purpose of fortify- 
ing upon Leechmore's point. 

26th Sunday. 

William Hatch of Major Latimer's Co. died last night, having 
been confin'd about one week, he has the whole time been in [ ?] 
and great part of it out of his Senses. His distemper was not 
really known. He was buried this afternoon, few people attended 
his funeral. Reported that the people were set a shhore at Chelsea, 
& bring accts that the Troops in Boston had orders to make an 
attack upon plough'd hill, when we first began our works there, 
but the Officers a number of them, went to Gen' Howe, & 
ofifered to give up their Commissions absolutely refusing to come 
out & be butchered by the Americans. Mounted Main Guard 
this morning. Snowy. U Chapman rec'd Recruiting ord^^ ^ 
set out home purposing to go as far as Roxby today. 

27 Monday. 

Nil mem. Evening went to Gen^ Lee's whom I found very 
much cast down, at the discouraging prospect of supplying the 
army with troops. 

28 Tuesday. 

Promis'd the men if they would tarry another moth they 
should have my wages for that time. Gen' Sullyvan Return'd 
sent order to Eraser Q M to send us some wood. Went to 
Cambr. could not be serv'd at the store, return'd, observ'd a 



2S2 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

greater number of Gabines at Gen' Lee's. Inf^ at Cambr y* Gen' 
Putnam's Reg' mostly concluded to tarry another month. (This 
a lie) 

29 Wednesday. 

The Reg* drawn up before Gen' Sullyvan's, after he had made 
them a most excellent speech desired them to Signify their minds, 
whether they would tarry 'till the 1^* of January, very few fell 
out, but some gave in their names afterward. Rec'd News of 
the taking of a vessell loaded w*** ordinance and Stores 

30. Thursday. 

Obtain 'd a furlough for En^" Hurlbut for 20 Days. Sent no 
letters to day on account of the hurry of business 

1®*^ [December] Friday 

W* to Cambridge. A number of men, about 20 in the whole 
confin'd for attempting to go home. Our Reg* this morning, by 
means of General Lee universally consented to tarry untill the 
Malitia came in, and by far the greater part agreed to stay 'till 
the first of Jan. 

2^ Saturday. 

Orders read to the Reg* that no one Officer or Soldier should 
go beyond Drum call from his al[ar]m post. Went to Mistick 
with Gen' Sullyvan's order on M"" Fraser, for things wanted by 
the Soldiers who are to tarry 'till the 1^* of January, but found 
he had none. 

3*^ Sunday. 

Wet weather, no pr. — Eve got an order fro[m] BG. Sully van 
upon Colo. Mifflin for the above mention'd Articles, not to be 
had at Erasers — 

4. Monday. 

Went to Cambridge to draw the above articles, but the order 
was not excepted, reed News y* several prizes had been taken by 
our Privateers, among which was a vessell from Scotland balas'd 
with Coal, the rest of her Cargo dry goods. Cpt Bulkley & M"" 
Chamberlain from Colchester with cheese. Purchased 107 lb 
at 6*^ p lb for which I gave an order upon Maj"" Latimer. 



APPENDIX 253 

5 Tuesday 

Reed News of the Death of John Bowers Gunner in Cpt 
Adam's' Privateer formerly of Maj"" Latimer's Company. 

5th Wednesday — 

Upon main Guard. Nil mem. Reed some letters p[er] Post. 
Col. Doolittle Officer of the Day inf^ that C°' Arnold had arr^^ 
at point Levi near Quebec — 

7. Thursday. 

Went to Cambridge to draw things. 

8 Fridaj^ 

Did some writing. Went P. M., to draw money for our 
expenses on the road from N. L. to Roxbury, but was dis- 
appointed : 

9 Nil. Mem. Saturday 

Struck our tents and the men chiefly marched off. Some few 
remaining came into my room. At Night Charle Brown Daniel 
Tolbot & W™ Carver return'd from Privateering, assisted Maj"" 
Latimer in making out his pay Roll, somewhat unwell in the 

evening. 

11. Monday 

Finish the pay roll & settled some accounts about 12 O'C Maj*" 
Latimer set out home. 1 or more Companies came in today 
for our relief. 

12 Tuesday 

a little unwell yesterd and today some better this evening. 

13*h Wednesday 

On Main Guard. Rec'd & wrote some letters. Read the 
History of Philip. 

14 Thursday. 

Went to Cambridge vessitted Maj"" Brooks, found him unwell 
with an ague. Cpt Hull Taken violently ill Yesterday remains 
very bad today, has a high fever. 

15. Friday. Nil. mem. 



254 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

16. Sat. 

Our people began the Covered way to Leechmore's point. 

17. Sunday. 

Went to Mistic to meeting. Some firing on our people at 
Leechmore's point. 

18. Monday. 

Went to Cambridge to draw things. The Reg^ paraded this 
morning to be formed into two companies that the rest of the 
Officers might go home. Heard in Cambridge that Cpt. Manly 
had taken another prize, with the Gov'' of one of the Carolina's 
friendly to us, & the Hon. Matthews Esq"" Mem"" of the Con- 
tinental Congress whom Gov"" Dunmore had taken & sent for 
Boston, 

19 Tuesday. 

Went to Cobble Hill. A Shell & a Shot from Bunker's Hill, 
the Shell braking in the air one piece fell as [and] touched a 
man's hat but did no harm. Works upon Leechmores point 
continued. 

20 Wed. 

Went to Roxbury for money left for me by Maj'' Latimer with 
Gen' Spencer, who refused to let me have it without Security. 
Draw'd some things from the Store. L^ Catlin & Ens" Whittlesey 
set out home on foot. 

21 Thursday, 

Wrote a number of letters. Went to Cambridge to carry them 
where I found M*" Hemps[t]ed had taken up my money at Gen' 
Spencers and Given his receipt, I took it of Hempstead giving 
my receipt the sum was 36^, 12^ 0"^. Court Martial held at Gen' 
Putnam's at which Commissary Gen' Trumbull was tryed for 
defrauding the Soldiers of their provisions, — 

22 Friday, Some Shot from the Enemy. 

23 Saturday. 

Tryed to draw 1 month's advance pay for my Company but 
found I could not have it till monday next — Upon which bor- 
rowed 76 Dollars of Cpt Levenworth, giving him an order on Col° 
Webb for the same as soon as my advance pay for January should 



APPENDIX 255 

be drawn. 3^ O'C^ P. M. Set out from Cambridge on my way 
home — At Watertown took the wrong road and went two 
miles directly out of the way, which had to travel right back 
again. — And after travelling about 11 miles put up at Ham- 
mon's Newtown about 7 O'C Entertainment pretty good. 

24 Sunday 

Left H® 6^ O'C^ went 8 miles to Straytons passing by Jack- 
son's at 3 miles. Breakfasted at Strayton's. The snow which 
began before we set out this morning increases & becomes burthen- 
some. From Straytons 9 miles to Stones where we eat Biscuit 
and drank cyder. 7 miles to Jones — din'd — arv'd 3^4 O'C — 
From there 2 m & forgot some things & went back — then return'd 
to to D" Reeds that night, pass*^ Amadons & Keiths 3 m Good 
houses. Within 3^ m of D" Reeds miss'd my road & went 2 m 
directly out of my way & right back travell'd in the whole to day 
41 miles — The weather Stormy & the snow for the most part 
ancle deep 

25 Monday 

From D" Reeds 8 O'C Came 1 or 2 m and got horses — 4 m 
to Hills & breakfasted — ordinary. 8 m to Jacobs & din'd — dis- 
missed our horses — 6 O'C arv'^ Keyes 11m put up. Good enter- 
tainment. 

26th Tuesday. 

6 O'C A. M. fr K. 6m to Kindals. Breakfasted— 10 m to 
Southwards din'd. Settled acc^^ w**^ L* Sage d [?] 16 dollars for 
paying Soldiers 1 month's advance pay. Arv'^ home a little after 
sunset. One heelstring lame. 

27th Wed. 

Heel lame. W^ to Br. Roses Aunt Rob" R" Hunt°" & Cpt 
Robs" 

28 Thursday 

Unwell — tarried at home. 

29 Friday. 

Went to see G. C. Lyman Call'd a D" Kingbury's & M"" 
Strongs. 



256 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Jany 1775 [1776] 

24 Wednesday set out from my Fathers for the Camp on horse 
back at 7>4 O'O at 11 O'O arv^ a Firkin's by Ashford Meeting 
House where left the horses.^ 12^^ O'O mch^ 3 3^ arvd Gros- 
venor's 8 m & 4^ at Grosvenor's Fomfret 2 m. and put up. 
here met 9 Sold""^ f"" Windham 

25 Thursday 

6^ OC mch^ from G. and came to Forbs 7"" but another Co. 
havs engaged breakfast there we were obliged to pass on to 
Jacobs, (fr. Gros" 10"^) — After Breakfast went 8 m to Hills & 
dr*^ some bad Cyder in a worse tavern. 7 — O'C^ arvd Deacon 
Reeds. 5 m Uxbridge & ^ Com^ put up — myself w*^^ the remain- 
der passed on to Woods 2m. 

26 Friday 

7 O'C fr. Woods 4 m to Amadons Mendon & breakfasted. 
17 m. to Clarkes Medfield & put up — Co — put up 5 m back. 

27 Saturday 

Breakfasted at Clarkes 10 O'O mch^ about 11>4 O'O arv<i 
at Ellis' 5^ where drank a glass of brandy & proceeded on 5^ 
to Whitings arvd. 2 O'Cl Arv*^ at Farkers in Jamaica Flains but 
being refused entertainment was obliged to betake ourselves to 
the Funch boll, where leaving the men 11 in N° went to Roxb^ 
Saw Gen^ Spencer — who tho't it best to leave the men there as 
the Regiment were expected there on Monday or tuesday. Indians 
at Gen' Spencers. Ret^ to Winterhill. 

28th Sunday- 
Went to Roxby. to find barracks for 1 1 men that came with me, 
but not finding good ones, ret*^ to Temple House where the men 
were arv'^ before me — In the evening went to pay a last visit to 
General SuUyvan, with Col° Webb & the Cpts of the Reg*^ 

29 Monday — Nil mem. 

30 Tuesday 

Removed from Winter Hill to Roxb^ 

iHow Hale spent part of his time while at home on this furlough is 
indicated further on p. 81. 



APPENDIX 257 

Feby 4'^ 1776 Sunday— 

Feb. 14th 1776 

Wednesday 

Last night a party of Regulars made an attempt upon Dor- 
chester, landing with a very considerable body of men. taking 
6 of our guard, dispersing the rest & burning — two or three 
houses — The Guard house was set on fire but extinguished. 

July 1776 

23^ Report in town of the arv' of 12 french S. of the Line in 
S* Law<=^ River. Docf Wolcott & Guy Rich^^ Jun'' here fr™ 
N. L. Rec'd L. fr G. Saltonstall 

Aug 2pt 

Wednesday 

Heavy Storm at Night Much & heavy Thunder — Capt. Van- 
Wylce & a Lieut & Ens. of Col" M'^- Dougall's Regt kill[ed] by 
a Shock Likewise one man in town belonging to a Militia Reg* 
of Connecticut. The Storm continued for two or three hours, 
for the greatest part of which time was a perpetual Lightening 
and the sharpest I ever knew. 

22 Thursday — 

The Enemy landed some troops down at the Narrows on Long 
Island. 

23. Friday — 

Enemy landed more Troops — news that they had marched 
up and taken Station near Flatbush their adv*^^ Gds being on 
this side near the woods — that some of our Riflemen attacked & 
drove them back 

Aug. 23 

Friday, 

from their post burnt 2 stacks hay and it was thought kill'd 
some of them — this about 12 O'O at Night. News that Our 
troops attacked them at their station near Flat-b. routed and 
drove them back l5^ mile. 



258 NATHAN HALE, 1776 



Hale's Companies in 1775 and 1776 

A roll of Hale's first company as recruited in July and August, 
1775, to serve until December 1, is given in Stuart's work; also 
in the Revolutionary Records of Connecticut, published by the 
State. Where rolls of that period do not exactly agree, it is 
due to enlistment changes, men dropping out, others taking their 
places and a few transferred from one company to another. Hale 
enters the following in his camp-book, evidently as the first 
officers of his company, 1775: 

Maj'' Latimer [Captain] 
N. Hale Lieut. 
John Belcher 2^ U 
Joseph Hillard Ens" 
Alpheus Chapman l^'^ Serg*^ 
George Hurlbut 2^ Serg*^ 
Joseph Page 3^ Serg*^ 
Reuben Hewit 4*^ Serg* 
Ezra Bushnell 5^^ Serg* 

In his camp-book also may be found the roll or pay-abstract of 
his new company, recruited for the year 1776, as it stood for 
the month of April, with a few later entries.^ There are seventy 
names in all, officers included. Hale wrote to his brother Enoch 
on June 3, that he then had eighty in his company and hoped, 
through a recruiting sergeant to get his full complement of ninety 
men. The company officers for 1776 were as follows: 

Nathan Hale, Captain 
Alpheus Chapman, Lieut. 
John Elderkin, Lieut. 
Geo. Hurlbut, Ensign 

1 This has been published in the Connecticut Historical Society Col- 
lections, Vol. viii. 



APPENDIX 259 

Chapman was tried by court-martial and dismissed. The Col- 
onel's son, Charles Webb, Jr., was then appointed Lieutenant. 
Among the four Sergeants were Thomas Updike Fosdick, of 
Lyme, and Stephen Hempstead, of New London, mentioned in 
the narrative and correspondence. 



26o NATHAN HALE, 1776 

Tributes to Hale 

His Capture and Death 

By unknown poet of 1776 

The breezes went steadily thro' the tall pines, 
A-saying "oh! hu-ush!" a-saying "oh! hu-ush!" 
As stilly stole by a bold legion of horse, 
For Hale in the bush, for Hale in the bush. 

"Keep still!" said the thrush as she nestled her young, 
In a nest by the road ; in a nest by the road ; 
"For the tyrants are near, and with them appear, 
What bodes us no good, what bodes us no good." 

The brave captain heard it, and thought of his home, 
In a cot by the brook; in a cot by the brook. 
With mother and sister and memories dear, 
He so gaily forsook; he so gaily forsook. 

Cooling shades of the night were coming apace. 
The tatoo had beat; the tatoo had beat. 
The noble one sprang from his dark lurking place. 
To make his retreat ; to make his retreat. 

He warily trod on the dry rustling leaves, 

Ah he pass'd thro' the wood ; as he pass'd thro' the wood ; 

And silently gain'd his rude launch on the shore. 

As she play'd with the flood ; as she play'd with the flood. 

The guards of the camp, on that dark, dreary night. 
Had a murderous will ; had a murderous will. 
They took him and bore him afar from the shore, 
To a hut on the hill ; to a hut on the hill. 

No mother was there, nor a friend who could cheer, ^ 
In that little stone cell ; in that little stone cell. 
But he trusted in love, from his father above. 
In his heart all was well ; in his heart all was well. 



APPENDIX 261 

An ominous owl with his solemn bass voice, 
Sat moaning hard by; sat moaning hard by. 
"The tyrant's proud minions most gladly rejoice, 
For he must soon die; for he must soon die." 

The brave fellow told them, no thing he restrain'd, 
The cruel gen'ral; the cruel gen'ral; 
His errand from camp, of the ends to be gained, 
And said that was all ; and said that was all. 

They took him and bound him and bore him away, 
Down the hill's grassy side ; down the hill's grassy side. 
'Twas there the base hirelings, in royal array, 
His cause did deride; his cause did deride. 

Five minutes were given, short moments, no more, 
For him to repent; for him to repent; 
He pray'd for his mother, he ask'd not another; 
To Heaven he went; to Heaven he went. 

The faith of a martyr, the tragedy shew'd. 
As he trod the last stage ; as he trod the last stage. 
And Britons will shudder at gallant Hale's blood. 
As his words do presage ; as his words do presage. 

"Thou pale king of terrors, thou life's gloomy foe, 
Go frighten the slave, go frighten the slave; 
Tell tyrants, to you, their allegiance they owe, 
No fears for the brave; no fears for the brave." 

[From Mr. Frank Moore's "Songs and Ballads of the Revolution." 
It is credited to the year 1776, but when or where it first appeared is not 
stated.] 



Hale's Fate and Fame 

By Francis M. Finch 

[Printed on pages 144-146.] 



262 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

The Last Moments of Nathan Hale 
By John Witt Randall M.D. 



Dear Country! Naught in death I dread, 

Save that but once I fall, 
And slumber idly with the dead 

When thou hast need of all: 
Thy living sons shall all defend, 
While I with senseless earth must blend. 

Thy cause requires a million hands 

To battle with thy foes, 
Lives numerous as the ocean sands — 

I have but one to lose ! 
Yet, though the sacrifice be small, 
Disdain not, since I give thee all. 

O that my blood from out the ground, 
'Neath God's inspiring breath. 

Might at thy trumpets' piercing sound 
One instant leap from death. 

Each drop a man, each man a spy, 

Foredoomed in thy great Cause to die ! 

How blest, even so to serve thee still, 
Slain o'er, and o'er and o'er! 

From field to field, from hill to hill, 
I'd chase thy cannon's roar, 

And shed my blood like showers of rain, 

And fall, and rise, and fall again. 

But hark! I hear the muffled drum 

Roll like a smothered wave, 
And there the columns marching come 

That bear me to my grave. 
Farewell, dear native land ! This heart 
Feels but one pang as now we part. 



APPENDIX 263 

I only grieve because my eyes 

Thy glory may not see — 
That I can serve thee but with sighs, 

Nor more lift sword for thee; 
And mourn because life's fleeting breath 
Permits me but a single death. 



[From "Consolations of Solitude." Boston: J. P. Jewett and Co., 
1856. The writer was the great grandson of Samuel Adams.] 



Hale's Grave at New York 
By John MacMullen, A.M. 



We know not where they buried him. 

Belike beneath the tree; 
But patriot memories cluster there, 

Where'er the spot may be. 
Yes! youthful martyr! all our isle 

To us more sacred 's made, 
Since on her breast thy manly form 

In death's deep sleep was laid. 



[From poem delivered before the Alumni of Columbia College, 
October 27, 1858.] 



Hale's Sacrifice 

By J. S. Babcockj Coventry, 1844 
****** 

Full stern was his doom, but full firmly he died, 
No funeral or bier they made him. 

Not a kind eye wept, nor a warm heart sighed. 
O'er the spot all unknown where they laid him. 



264 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

He fell in the spring of his early prime, 
With his fair hopes all around him; 

He died for his birth-land — "a glorious crime" — 
Ere the palm of his fame had crowned him. 

He fell in her darkness — he lived not to see 

The morn of her risen glory; 
But the name of the brave, in the hearts of the free, 

Shall be twined in her deathless story. 



A Coventry Tribute 
By Forrest Morgan 

The voices and hearts of our country have joined in a tender 

acclaim 
Of the hero who found on the gallows the purest attainment of 

fame ; 
Who, graced with all gifts and all promise for scaling the heights 

of success, 
A brain and a heart that his fellows united to plaudit and 

bless, 
The orator full from the scholar, surpassing in vigor of limb, 
The idol of women j^et also of men who forgave it to him. 
High power in his country before him, a lure to ambition and 

hope, 
The duty to live urged upon him as strong with its perils to 

cope. 
Obeyed the harsh duty close to him and ventured his life on the 

cast. 
Nor sorrowed except that the giving must needs be his one and 

his last. 
But his gift was more massive in value than aught he could know 

or suppose: 
From ours to the sea of the sunset, the Gulf to the Innuit snows. 
The millions who owe to that country their hope of excelling the 

brutes 



APPENDIX 265 

Are taught by his word and example they owe it the best of their 

fruits. 
And so long as the banner that marks it shall billow its folds on 

the gale, 
The swell of the heart for that banner will mount at the mention 

of Hale. 
His shaft on the hill is our glory, our seal to a share in his praise ; 
Be ours too, in payment, first share in the lesson his story conveys. 

[From a poem entitled "Coventry Town and Church," read August 
27, 1912, by Mr. Morgan, at the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the 
organization of the First Congregational Church, South Coventry, 
Connecticut.] 



Hale and Lincoln 
By Governor Simeon E. Baldwin, of Connecticut 

What a man says about himself seldom lives after him, but 
Nathan Hale said something about himself that his countrymen 
never will forget. He said it as he was going to his death. He 
said it to unsympathizing ears. It was his enemies who preserved 
it in memory. Its expression of noble resolution, its devoted patri- 
otism, struck home even to their hearts, "I only regret that I have 
but one life to lay down for my Country." 

Two great sayings of two great Americans dwell in the nation's 
memory. 

One came from a young man closing a short career, as short as 
it was glorious. The other came from a man of middle age who 
had for long years been rendering high public service in a great 
station. It was Lincoln's speech at Gettysburg. There, next 
month, that speech will be the subject for special commemoration. 
Here, to-day, we have the shorter speech of Nathan Hale to occupy 
our thoughts. The prevailing note of Lincoln's was humility 
before our soldier dead. The note of Hale's was a proud declara- 
tion of patriotic duty, the looking forward to becoming in a brief 
moment one of the soldier dead. It was but a few lines that 
Lincoln spoke. It was but a short sentence that fell from the lips 
of Hale. Both spoke from the heart ; both spoke under the influ- 



266 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

ence of the deepest feeling; both spoke to history. History heard, 
and our presence here is her tribute to the younger of them, a 
worthy son of Connecticut and of Yale. 

[From address by Governor Baldwin, delivered at the Hale School- 
house, East Haddam, June 14, 1913.] 



HALE MEMORIALS 

Monument at Coventry 

The first monument to Hale's memory was erected at his birth- 
place. South Coventry, Connecticut, in 1846. It is a shaft of 
Quincy granite forty-five feet in height. The cost was met by 
the townspeople and subscribers elsewhere, assisted by a grant 
of twelve hundred dollars from the State. Eflforts made a few 
years earlier to interest Congress in the matter had failed. Stuart 
gives many details connected with the erection of the monument. 
The Hale collection in the Connecticut Historical Society includes 
original material in regard to it, as well as proceedings, resolutions, 
and speeches in Congress. 



Statue in the Hartford Capitol 

In 1887, the State of Connecticut erected a bronze statue of 
Hale in the Capitol building at Hartford, designed by Karl Ger- 
hardt, sculptor, of that city. It was dedicated June 14, the late 
Charles Dudley Warner making the presentation address. Gov- 
ernor Lounsbury accepted it for the State. 



The Athenaeum Statue, Hartford 

A bronze statue of Hale stands on the grounds of the Wads- 
worth Athenasum, Hartford, which Mr. James J. Goodwin pre- 
sented to that institution in 1894. The sculptor was Mr. Enoch 
S. Woods, of that city. 



APPENDIX 267 

The MacMonnies Statue, New York 

The Society of "Sons of the Revolution in the State of New 
York" dedicated a bronze statue to Hale in the City Hall Park, 
New York, November 25, 1893, with impressive ceremonies. 
The sculptor was Frederick MacMonnies. See p. 148. 



Memorial at Huntington, Long Island 

Residents of Huntington, in 1894, erected a memorial to Hale 
in the form of a granite column with a fountain at the base. It 
commemorates Hale's landing there and his capture, as then sup- 
posed, at the same place. The local "Nathan Hale Association" 
conducted the dedication exercises. 



Memorial at Norwalk, Connecticut 

At Norwalk, where Hale changed his uniform for a school- 
master's disguise and then crossed to Huntington, the local chap- 
ter of the "Daughters of the American Revolution" erected a 
pleasing memorial in 1901. It is an ornamental public fountain 
standing opposite the City Armory. 



Statue at St. Paul, Minnesota 

A statue of Hale, modeled by Mr. William Ordway Partridge, 
sculptor, stands in one of the parks in St. Paul. It was erected 
by the local "Nathan Hale Chapter," Daughters of the American 
Revolution. 



Statue on Yale University Grounds 

This statue, referred to on page 146, designed by Mr. Bela 
Pratt, sculptor, Boston, was placed on its pedestal, September 30, 



268 NATHAN HALE, 1776 

1914. It stands near the east side of Connecticut Hall, old 
"South Middle," in which Hale roomed. The bronze figure, 
slightly above life size, represents him at the moment of his sacri- 
fice. On the front face of the pedestal the inscription reads: 

NATHAN HALE 

1755—1776 
Class of 1773 



On the back: 



A Gift to Yale College 

By Friends and Graduates 

Anno Domini, MCMXIV 



SCHOOLHOUSES AT EaST HaDDAM AND NeW LoNDON, 

Connecticut 

These schoolhouses have been restored and dedicated as Hale 
memorials. Removed in each case from their original sites 
several years ago, they were changed and used as dwellings. They 
now stand on entirely new sites. The one at East Haddam was 
dedicated, June 6, 1900, under the auspices of the "Sons of the 
Revolution" of New York and Connecticut. The New London 
schoolhouse, from whose desk Hale went to the war, was pur- 
chased and restored by the Connecticut "Sons of the American 
Revolution" and by them transferred to the local "Daughters" 
of the same Society. The dedication occurred, June 17, 1901.^ 

1 Illustrations of these memorials, excepting the statue by Mr. Par- 
tridge, which was erected since 1901, appear in the first edition of this 
work. Also accounts of the dedication exercises. 

A few tablets and other minor memorials have been set up in other 
places. 



APPENDIX 269 

My Friend 

After I receiv'd your letter of July \1^^ I thought I would 
send you one long enough To make up for the loss of those which 
you made mention of. — By your last, I rather think that you have 
never yet come across it. However I would have you wait with 
Patience, for I dare warrant you the Perusal of it in less than }^ 
a Century this time. If this should chance to find you (or you 
it) first, I would have you prepare yourself for the Reception of 
an extraordinary Epistle. Let the stomach of your Mind be 
empty & prepared for a good digestion. You will find that I 
have said something in that about proper food for digestion, both 
for Body & Mind. But you must satisfy yourself about these 
things when the letter arrives. — I am much obliged to you for 
those Tables which you sent — I have not seen the other Gentlemen 
j^et, to deliver your Present to them, for I have but just received 
them. — I herewith send you my Geographical Cards, Which I 
suppose your scholars can copy off. I am daily using them, but 
if you will be so kind as to return them in about 3 Weeks or a 
Month I can do very well. By that time you may have a number 
of Copies from them, & they will be needed by your sincere 
friend &c 

Benj*^ Tallmadge 
Wethersfield. August 6^^ 1774— 

To Mr Nathan Hale 
New London 

(Endorsed on back in Hale's handwriting) 
M-- Tallmadge 

Aug. 6th AD 1774 



HALE BIBLIOGRAPHY 

BIOGRAPHIES 

Mr. Cyrus P. Bradley, of Hanover, New Hampshire, proposed writing 
a life of Hale as early as 1835, Mr. Jasper Gilbert, of Coventry, having 
assisted him in collecting material. In 1836, Mr. I. Holbrook, of Nor- 
wich, Connecticut, expressed the same intention. Neither of them pub- 
lished biographies. A portion of the Bradley-Gilbert correspondence is 
preserved in the archives of the Connecticut Historical Society and has 
been utilized in the present work. 

Memoir of Captain Nathan Hale. For the Hale Monument Associa- 
tion. By J. S. Babcock, of Coventry. New Haven, 1844. Brief. 
Life of Captain Nathan Hale, the Martyr Spy of the American 

Revolution. By Isaac W. Stuart. With Hale genealogy, prepared 

by Rev. Edward Everett Hale. Two editions. Hartford, 1856. 
Life of Captain Nathan Hale, the Martyr-Spy of the Revolution. 

Dedicated to the soldiers of the United States Army. U. S. Military 

Post Library Association, New York, 1874. Brief. 
The Sad, Heart-Touching, but Ennobling History of Capt. Nathan 

Hale, the hero-martyr of the American Revolution. By Henry 

Howe. New Haven, 1881. Brief. 
The Two Spies — Nathan Hale and John Andre. By B. J. Lossing. 

New York, 1886 and 1907. 
Nathan Hale, the Martyr Spy. An Incident of the Revolution. By 

Charles W. Brown. New York, 1899. Brief. 
Nathan Hale, the Martyr Hero of the Revolution. By Charlotte M. 

Holloway. New York, 1899. Also, Connecticut Magazine, Vol. 6, 

p. 244. 
Nathan Hale. Biography and Memorials. By H. P. Johnston. 

Privately printed. New York, 1901. 
Nathan Hale. The Ideal Patriot. By Wm. Ordway Partridge. New 

York, 1902. 

HALE IN HISTORICAL AND LITERARY WORKS 

A Summary History of New England. By Hannah Adams. Dedham 
[Mass.], 1799; pp. 358-61. Also in abridged editions, 1805, 1807. 

History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revo- 
lution. By Mrs. Mercy Warren. Boston, 1805. Vol. II, pp. 264- 
66. 



2T2 HALE BIBLIOGRAPHY 

American Annals. By Abiel Holmes. Cambridge, 1805. Vol. II, p. 
369. 

Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of General Lafayette. 
Published by his Family. Vol. I, p. 256. 

Military Journal. By Dr. James Thacher. Boston, 1827. He copies 
Hannah Adams' account in a note and states that it "gives him the 
highest satisfaction" to do so; p. 224. 

Lectures on American Literature. By Samuel L. Knapp. New York, 
1829; pp. 254-57. 

Life and Treason of Benedict Arnold. By Jared Sparks. New York, 
1835. Vol. Ill, pp. 299-305. Library of American Biography. 

Connecticut Historical Collections. By J. W. Barber. New Haven, 
1838; pp. 544-45; also, edition of 1856, p. 581. 

Connecticut During the War of the Revolution. By R. R. Hinman. 
Hartford, 1842; p. 82. 

The History of Long Island. By B. F. Thompson. New York, 1843. 
Vol. II, p. 475. 

History of Schoharie County, and Border Wars of New York. By 
J. R. Simms. Albany, 1845; p. 665. 

The American Spy; or Freedom's Early Sacrifice. By J. R. Simms. 

Albany, 1846, 1857. 
Revolutionary Services and Civil Life of General William Hull. 

By his daughter, Mrs. Maria Campbell. New York, 1848; pp. 33, 45. 

Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties, L. I. By 

Henry Onderdonk, Jr. New York, 1849; pp. 48-53. Incidents of 

Queens Count}', do., p. 204. 
Memoir of David Hale. By Rev. Dr. J. P. Thompson. New York, 1850; 

pp. 6, 494. 
History of Connecticut. By G. H. HoUister, Hartford, 1855. Vol. II> 

p. 279. 
Memoir of Rev. William Robinson. By his son, Edward Robinson, 

New York, 1859; p. 71. 
Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings. Vol. XVIII, p. 270. 
Connecticut Historical Society Collections. Vol. VIII, pp. 28-31. 
Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution. By B. J. Lossing. New York, 

1859. Vol. I, pp. 425, 758. Vol. II, p. 609. 

History of New London, Connecticut. By Frances M. Caulkins. 1860; 

p. 515. 
Centennial Sketch of New London. Starr; pp. 15-16. 
Diary of the American Revolution. By Frank Moore. New York,, 

1860. Vol. I, p. 314; Vol. II, p. 428. 



HALE BIBLIOGRAPHY 273 

History of the City of New York. By Mary L. Booth. New York, 

1860; p. 501. 

Life and Career of Major John Andre. By Winthrop Sargent. Boston, 
1861; pp. 341, 354. 

Westhampton, Massachusetts, Reunion, 1866; pp. 33-35. 

Battles of the American Revolution. By Gen. H. B. Carrington. New 

York, 1876; pp. 78, 227. 
Campaign of 1776 Around New York and Brooklyn. By Henry P. 

Johnston. L. I. Historical Society, Brooklyn, 1878. Part I, p. 262. 

By same author, Yale in the Revolution. New York, 1888; pp. 

52-55; 286-90. By same author, Battle of Harlem Heights. New 

York, 1897; pp. 29-31. 
History of the City of New York. By Martha J. Lamb. New York, 

1880. Vol. n, p. 136. 
Commemorative of Nathan Hale. Pamphlet issued by the "Sons of the 

Revolution," New York, 1887, to promote proposed statue of Hale. 

Reprint of Harper's Magazine article. May, 1880, and other material. 
Narrative and Critical History of America. By Justin Winsor. Boston, 

1888. Vol. VI, p. 333. 
Genealogy of the Strong Family. Vol. I, pp. 332, 350-52. 
History of Tolland County, Connecticut. By J. R. Cole. 1888; p. 110 

and Chapter XL 

Yale Biographies and Annals. By F. B. Dexter. New York, 1885-1912. 

Vol. HI, p. 483. 
History of Connecticut. By E. B. Sanford. Hartford, 1889; pp. 204-5; 

210. 
History of the United States. By George Bancroft. Edition 1890. 

Vol. V, p. 48. 
The American Revolution. By John Fiske. Boston, 1891. Vol. H, 

p. 228. 
Memorial History of the City of New York. By James G. Wilson. 

New York, 1892. Vol. H, pp. 528-29. 
History of the City of Brooklyn and Kings County. By S. M. 

Ostrander. Brooklyn, 1894. Vol. I, p. 267. 
The Literary History of the American Revolution. By Moses Coit 

Tyler. New York, 1897. Vol. H, pp. 183-86. 
Records of Town and Churches in Coventry, Connecticut. By Susan 

V^hitney Dimock. New York, 1897; p. 53. 
Historic New York. First Series Half Moon Papers. New York, 1899; 

pp. 250, 298, 315. 
American History Told by Contemporaries. By A. B. Hart. New York, 

1901. Vol. H, p. 484. 



2T4 HALE BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The Story of Manhattan. By C. Hemstreet. New York, 1901 ; p. 157. 
Landmark History of New York. By Albert Ulmann. New York, 1901; 

pp. 117-19. 
Connecticut. By Alexander Johnston. "American Commonwealth" 

Series, 1903; pp. 295-96. 
Connecticut as a Colony and State. By Forrest Morgan. Hartford, 

1904. Vol. II, pp. 89-91; 186-88. 
The Story of Nathan Hale. By Rev. A. J. Haynes. New Haven, 1907. 
Story of Nathan Hale. By Pauline C. Bouve. "American Heroes," pp. 

129-38. 
History of the United States and Its People. By E. M. Avery. Cleve- 
land, 1909. Vol. VI, pp. 27-30. 
The Borough of the Bronx, 1659-1913. By H. T. Cook. New York, 

1913; pp. 212-18. 
A History of Connecticut. By Rev. George L. Clark. New York, 1914. 
New York. (Commonwealth Series.) By E. H. Roberts. Vol. II; p. 

438. 

HALE IN POETRY AND DRAMA 

In addition to the pieces quoted or referred to in the present work at 
pages 37-38, 133-34, 144-46, 260-64, the following may be mentioned: 

Nathan Hale. Stanzas suggested by the movement to erect a monument 
at Coventry. By "F." [Jerusha Foote?] In Hartford Courant, 
June 20, 1842. 

"Yes! rear the marble — let it rise! 

******* 

Not as the soldier loves to die 
But as the felon dies, — 
Hale gave with self-devotion high 
Mind's noblest sacrifice." 

******* 

Verses Written for the Ladies' Fair at Coventry, May 1, 1844. By 
Jerusha Foote, of Andover, Connecticut. Also another piece of six 
verses. Copies in Hale Collection, Connecticut Historical Society. 

Article on Hale in the Yale Literary Magazine, June, 1839, closes 
with a poetic tribute. 

Nathan Hale. By Arthur Hale. Poem read by him at banquet of 
"Sons of the Revolution," New York City, November 25, 1893, after 
the unveiling of the MacMonnies statue of Hale in City Hall Park. 
Printed in Boston Advertiser, November 27, and in Boston Com- 
monvjealth, December 2, 1893. 



HALE BIBLIOGRAPHY 275 

The Romance of the Schoolhouse. By Bertha P. Attwood, of East 

Haddam. Read on "Nathan Hale Day," June 6, 1900, at East 

Haddam, Connecticut, on the occasion of the transfer of the Hale 

Schoolhouse to the State Society "Sons of the Revolution." Printed 

in the Connecticut Valley Advertiser, June 8, 1900; also in Hartford 

papers. 
Nathan Hale. By Joseph Cone. Poem read on above occasion. Printed 

in same papers. 
Nathan Hale's Day. By Ella Beardsley, of Moodus, Connecticut, June 

6, 1900. 
Nathan Hale. By Sara King Wiley. 
Nathan Hale. By William Ordway Partridge. Harper's Weekly, 

November 9, 1901. 
Nathan Hale, the Martyr-Spy. By I. H. Brown. St. Louis. 
Our Ivy. By Claes Martenze [Richard Henry Greene]. Privately 

printed and illustrated. New York, 1902. Suggested by associations 

with Hale's East Haddam schoolhouse. 
Nathan Hale. By Genevieve Hale Whitlock, New Haven. Dedicated 

to the Norwalk Chapter D. A. R. Connecticut Magazine, May-June, 

1900. Also, "Hale Day," in same. 
Nathan Hale's Statue. By J. I. C. Clarke. In "The Fighting Race 

and other Poems and Ballads," by the same writer. American News 

Company, New York. 
The Death of Capt. Nathan Hale. A Drama in five acts. By David 

Trumbull, for the Hale Monument Association, Hartford, 1845. 
Nathan Hale. Four-Act Play. By Clyde Fitch. Presented at New 

York, January-March, 1899. 
Nathan Hale of 73. A drama in four acts. By C. C. S. Cushing. Yale 

Publishing Association, New Haven, 1908. 

Among the paintings exhibited at the American Art Union at New 
York in 1848 was one entitled, "Nathan Hale just before Execution," by 
O. A. Bullard. It became the property of Dr. G. G. Bischoff, of Reading, 
Pa. 

F. O. C. Darley, the well-known engraver, of New York, about 1850- 
70, designed an effective piece representing the same scene. 

ADDRESSES ON HALE— MAGAZINE AND PRESS ARTICLES 

Nathan Hale Association. Address at South Coventry, Connecticut, 
before the Association, November 25, 1836, by Hon. Andrew T. 
Judson. Norwich, 1837. (Pamphlet.) 

Congress and Hale. In 1835 residents of Coventry petitioned Congress 
to appropriate a sum of money for the erection of a monument to 



2^6 HALE BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Hale at that place, his native town. A select Committee of the 
House, headed by Mr. Judson, presented a report in favor of the 
project on January 19, 1836. In the Senate the petition was pre- 
sented, February 1, 1836, by Hon. John M. Niles. The movement 
failed, as it did again in 1842. The resolutions and speeches on 
these occasions appear in the official records. 

Andre and Hale. Address by Henry J. Raymond, founder of New 
York Daily Times, at Tarrytown, New York. The Times, October 
8, 1853. 

Centennial of the Capture of Major Andre. Oration by Hon. 
Chauncey M. Depew. New York, 1880. (Pamphlet.) 

Nathan Hale. By Edward Everett Hale. Address at Groton, Con- 
necticut, on "Nathan Hale Day," September 7, 1881. Includes Enoch 
Hale's Diary. Boston, 1881. (Pamphlet.) 

Nathan Hale. Address at unveiling of the Hale statue at the State 
Capitol, Hartford. By Charles Dudley Warner. Hartford Courant, 
June 16, 1887. 

Nathan Hale. Address by Edward Everett Hale before the "Sons of 
the Revolution," New York, November 25, 1893. Boston Common- 
ivealth, December 2, 1893. 

Nathan Hale. Schoolboy, Teacher, Martyr-Spy. Address to the Pupils 
of the Public Schools of the City of New York. By Jacob Cox 
Parsons, New York, April 10, 1894. (Pamphlet.) 

Nathan Hale. Address by Robert Lenox Belknap at unveiling of Hale 
memorial at Huntington, L. I., July 4, 1894. In Suffolk Bulletin, 
July 7, 1894. 

Nathan Hale Schoolhouse. Address by Judge Julius Attwood, on Hale 
and his school associations at East Haddam. Connecticut Valley 
Advertiser, June 8, 1900, and Hartford papers. 

Hale and Lincoln. Address by Governor Simeon E. Baldwin, of Con- 
necticut, at the Hale Schoolhouse, East Haddam, June 14, 1913. In 
Connecticut Valley Advertiser of June 20. 

Early Reference to Hale. American Magazine. 1788, p. 564. 

Nathan Hale. Editorial in Plaindealer, a New York weekly journal. 
December 24, 1836. 

Hale's Service and Sacrifice. The Knickerbocker or New York Monthly 
Magazine (1838), Vol. XI, p. 54. 

Review of Stuart's Life of Hale. Putnam's Magazine, Vol. VII (1856), 
p. 476. 

Cunningham and Hale. American Historical Record, Vol. II, p. 443. 
See p. 123, ante. 

Hale and Andre's Defense. Potter's American Monthly (1876), Vol. 
VI, p. 295. See note, p. 137, ante. 



HALE BIBLIOGRAPHY 277 

Hale's Name. Neix) England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 37 
p. 339. 

Nathan Hale. Harper's Magazine, May, 1880. 
Nathan Hale. The Independent, New York, November 30, 1893. 
Hull Genealogy. By Samuel C. Clarke. Neiv England Historic 
Genealogical Register, April and July, 1893. 

Hale School, East Haddam. By F. H. Parker. Connecticut Magazine, 
Hartford, May-June, 1900. 

Alice Adams, Nathan Hale's Sweetheart. By Edward Hale Brush. 
The Churchman, July 5, 1913. 

The Yale Statue of Nathan Hale. By George Dudley Seymour. 
Magazine of History (1907), Vol. VI, p. 171. 

Hale-Site. Privately printed, brief pamphlet by George Taylor, Hunt- 
ington, L. I., 1897. Relating to Hale's capture at that place. 

Hale Memorials. The American Architect and Building Neivs. New 
York, April, 1888. 

Encyclopaedias and American school histories very generally contain 
sketches of or mention of Hale. Articles are noted in the volumes of 
Poole's Index; also in "Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature," ed. by 
Anna L. Guthrie, 1905. Vol. I, p. 629; Vol. II, p. 978. 

References to Hale in magazines and newspapers have been numerous, 
appearing mainly in connection with anniversaries or the erection of 
Hale memorials. The more interesting and important are in: 

The Hartford Courant, Supplement, February 9, 1835; New York 
Journal of Commerce, July 10, 1846; New York World, September 22, 
1876; do., February 4, 1879; New York Sun, December 30, 1878; do., 
January 4, 1879; Harper's Magazine, "Editor's Easy Chair," March, 
1879; New York Mail and Express, June 15, 1887; Hartford Courant, 
June 16, 1887; New York Times, June 18, 1887; New York Evening Post, 
June 15, 1887; New York Commercial Advertiser, June 16, 1887; Har- 
per's Weekly, June 11, 1887; New York Evening Sun, July 17, 1894. 
No Hale event was the subject of so many descriptions and editorials as 
the unveiling of the statue in New York. Papers in distant cities pub- 
lished accounts. See all the city papers for November 25 and 26, 1893; 
Harper's Weekly, December 9; Boston Traveller, November 18; Brook- 
lyn Eagle, November 25 ; Schenectady Union, November 25 ; Rochester 
Herald, November 27; Baltimore Sun, November 27; New Haven Pal- 
ladium, November 27; Springfield Republican, November 28; Kansas 
City Star, November 28 ; Providence Journal, November 28 ; Worcester 
Spy, November 28; Boston Advertiser, November 27; Columbus (Ohio) 
Despatch, November 28; Boston Transcript, November 29; New Orleans 
Picayune, December 2; Philadelphia Enquirer, November 2S; Portland 
Oregonian, November 25, 1893. Celebrations elsewhere: Suffolk, L. I., 



27S HALE BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bulletin, July 7, 1894; The Norwalk Hour, April 19, 1901; Connecticut 
Valley Advertiser, June 8, 1900; do., June 20, 1913; Hartford Times, 
June 6, 1900; Hartford Courant, June 8, 1900; New London Day, June 
17, 1901. Hale Homestead: Hartford Courant, July 9, 1913. Hale Statue: 
Yale New, March 2 and 3, 1899; The Critic, Vol. XXIH, p. 366; on Yale 
Campus, Hartford Courant, October 1, 1914. Proposed national statue 
at Washington, D, C, Courant, July 18, 1914. 



INDEX 

Abbot, Abiel, Hale homestead, lOn; profile, 153. 

Abbot, Elizabeth, homestead, 9; room and profile, 153. 

Adams, Abigail, Deacon Hale, 56. 

Adams, Alice, Hale's love for, 56; qualities, 57; marries E. Ripley, 57; 
book, 57n; widow, 58; engaged to Hale, 59; tribute to, 59; Marvin's 
reference, 59; marries W. Lawrence, 60; recollections of, and por- 
trait, 60; Hale miniature, 151; descendants of, 152n; Hale to 
"Alicia," 190. 

Adams, Betsy, 233, 243. 

Adams, E., 243. 

Adams, Hannah, historian, 125n, 138; account of Hale, 139, 141. 

Adams, Joseph, 183. 

Adams, and Dr. Church, 232. 

Adams, Capt., privateer, 253. 

Adams, Samuel, father of Alice, 56. 

Adams, Samuel, independence, 64. 

Adams, Sarah, marries J. Hale, 56. 

Alden, Roger, 34-36, 42; quoted, 78; independent, 87; in the army, 96; 
to Hale, 175, 193; sketch of, 198n; letters to Hale, 198. 

Alden, Lieut. Col., Duxbury, 86. 

Allen, Ethan, Col., wounded, 233. 

Amadon's, inn, 255. 

Andre, John, Maj., 38n; case of, 114; executed, 125; compared with 
Hale, 132, 136-138, 140, 157, 170. 

Arnold, Benedict, 125, 253. 

Artillery Park, British, Hale executed at, 115, 126; site, 161. 

Ashford, Conn., Knowlton from, 102; inn, 256. 

Asia, ship, Hale and sloop, 92, 150, 250. 

Attleboro, Mass., 71 ; inn at, 240. 

Atwater, Thomas, Student's Comedy, 33. 

Avery Park, New London Committee, 234. 

Babcock, J. S., on Hale, 51, 263. 

Baldwin, Eben., tutor, 19. 

Baldwin, Roger S., Coventry shaft, 143. 

Baldwin, Simeon E., Gov., Hale and Lincoln, 265. 

Barker, student, 193. 

Bates, Albert C, Hale archives, ix. 

Bayard's Mount, N. Y., Hale's camp, 90. 

"Beaux' Stratagem," play at Yale, 32. 

Beckwith, B., student, 34. 



28o INDEX 

Beebe, Christopher, soldier, 250. 

Beekman Mansion, N. Y., 89; Howe's headquarters, 121; Hale, 89, 121, 

126. 
Belcher, John, Lieut., recruits, 70; letter, 239, 258. 
Belden, P. and S., Misses, Hale's pupils, 78, 238, 245. 
Belden, Samuel, school proprietor, 178, 218-219. 
Berkeley Scholarship, Yale, 28, 87. 
Beverly, Mass., 6, 7. 
Bill, S., New London, 237. 
Billings, E., "Sir," 31, 193. 
Bird, Rev. Mr., preaches, 241-242, 248-249. 
Blue Laws, Conn., 63n. 
Boston, massacre, 64; siege, 66, 71, 76; evacuated, 82; damage to, 83; 

American army leaves, 88; Chronicle, 136, 140, 166; "Gagites" in, 

210; Neck, 241, 247, 250. 
Bostwick, Capt., 241. 
Bourbank, Lieut., 247. 
Bowers, John, gunner, 253. 
Brackett, Dr., Portsmouth, 217. 
Bradley, C. P., Hale material, 52n. 
Branford, Conn., 67. 
Breton, Cape, 40. 
Brookhaven, L. L, 16. 

Brooklyn, defenses, 89, 94, 98; Hale's route, 113; map, 162. 
Brooks, Maj., 181, 246, 253. 
Brothers in Unity, Yale Society, 31. 
Brown, Chas., privateer, 253. 
Brown, John, Yale, soldier, 24. 
Brown, soldier, 227-228, 248. 
Brown's, Cambridge, 244. 
Bulkley, Capt., 252. 

Bunker Hill, 5, 71, 73-74, 81, 90, 102, 227, 254. 
Burnham's, inn, 88. 
Bushnell, Ezra, Sergt., 258. 
Butler, Col., massacre, 33. 

Campbell, Maria, Mrs., biographer, 107n. 

Cambridge, Mass., American headquarters, 71, 75, 188; Hale at, 240- 

241, 244, 250-254. 
Canaan, Conn., 171. 
Canterbury, Conn., 56. 
Carver, William, privateer, 253. 
Catlin, Lieut., 246, 254. 
Caulkins, Miss, on Hale, 52. 
Cerberus, ship, 109, 119, 159. 
Chadwick, Charles, Capt., school proprietor, 178. 



INDEX 281 

Chamberlain, Mr., 252. 

Chambli, fort, 221, 245. 

Charaplin, Chris., 232, 242. 

Chapman, Alpheus, Hale's company, 226, 228, 247, 251; dismissed, 259. 

Chappel, Alpheus, recruit, 228. 

Charlestown, Mass., 5. 

Charlestown Neck, 5, 73. 

Chelsea, Mass., 251. 

Christophers, Betsey, Hale to, 77, 80, 179. 

Christophers, Sheriff, New London, 234, 245. 

Church, Dr., defection of, 221, 232; in jail, 235. 

Church and Hallam, to Hale, 239. 

Church, Silas, school proprietor, 178. 

Clarke's, at Medfield, 256. 

Clary, Polly, married, 208. 

Cleaveland, Eben., Chaplain, Hale's betrayal, 168, 194-195. 

Clef, Capt, 210. 

Clinton, George, Gen., 100; scouting, 101, 

Clinton, Henry, Sir, at New York, 121. 

Cobb, M., student, 193. 

Cobble Hill, 74, 83, 248, 254. 

Coit, B., pupil, 78, 238. 

Coit, Joseph, Capt., 237. 

Coit, Thomas, Dr., school proprietor, 178, 236. 

Coit, William, Capt., Lexington alarm, 66; at sea, 109, 189, 244; prizes, 

246-247. 
Colchester, Conn., 252. 
Columbia University, battlefield, 104. 
"Common Sense," Paine's, 83-84; Robinson on, 86-87, 91. 
Concord, Mass., Harvard at, 189. 
Congress, Continental, 16, 40, 63, 79, 89; independence, 90, 122, 142; 

Washington at, 183; Hale's commission, 192; monument, 266. 
Connecticut, Assembly, 2; towns, 2, 3, 5, 8 ; deputies, 11, 16; Journal, 34; 

schools, 41-42; dragoons, 45n, 47, 59; Lexington alarm, 61-62, 63; 

troops, 66-67, 70, 79; independence, 84; tories, 91, 109, llOn, 140, 147; 

militia, 149; tories, 181; soldiers, 218, 224; Association, 233; 

councillors, 233, 234-235. 
Connecticut Hall, Yale, 20. 

"Conquest of Canaan," Dwight, 29, 87; eulogy of Hale, 133-134, 138. 
Cooley, D., student, 208. 
Coventry, Conn., 1, 2; Hale's birthplace, 3; father settles at, 7, 8, 9; 

farm, deputies from, 11; school, 12; church, 13; parsonage, 16, 26, 

57, 62; record on Hale, 120; gravestone, 132; monument, 142, 147; 

150, 153-155, 167-168, 183, 193-194, 196-197; tribute, 264-265. 
Coventry, R. L, school, 46n. 
Cutler, T., student, 193. 



282 INDEX 

Daggett, Naphtali, Yale President, 19. 

Daggett, Thomas, inn, 241n. 

Davenport, Abraham, vote for as Councillor, 234. 

Davenport, John, 193. 

Day, George Parmly, Treasurer, Yale, ix. 

Deane, Silas, vote for as Chancellor, 234. 

Dedham, Mass., 71, 138, 240. 

Deerfield, Mass., school, 208. 

Delancey, Gen., Long Island, 113. 

Dennis, James, soldier, 226. 

Deorrity, soldier, 228. 

Derby, Conn., 67. 

Deshon, Richard, Capt., school proprietor, 177. 

Dexter, Franklin B., Prof., Yale in 1750 and 1907, 21; Enoch Hale, 54; 

Yale Annals, ix. 
Dodd, Robert H., Hale material, ix. 
Doolittle, Col., 247, 253. 
Dorchester lines, 73 ; Hale visits, 241. 
Douglas, N., New London, 223, 237. 
Dove Tavern, N. Y., Hale executed near, 126, 162-163. 
Duer, William, on tories and spies, 129. 
Dunmore, Gov., of Virginia, 235, 254. 
Dupee's, inn, 240. 
Dwight, Samuel, teacher, 42. 
Dwight, Timothy, tutor at Yale, 19, 54; "Conquest of Canaan," 29, 36; 

on Hale, 36, 87; Chaplain, 96; tribute to Hale, 133-134, 191; letter, 

217. 
Dyer, Eliphalet, vote for as Councillor, 234. 

East Haddara, Conn., Hale's school at, 42; described, 42-44, 175; Hale's 

lodging, 45n ; schoolhouse, 142, 268. 
East Wilton, N. H., 10. 
Edmonston, Maj., British spy, 169-170. 
Edwards, Mr., Rev., 92. 
Elderkin, John, Lieut., 258. 
Eli [Ely], Dr., surgeon, 182. 
Ellis's, inn, 256. 
Ely, Capt., in camp, 210. 
Erskine, Gen., Long Island, 113. 
Essex Journal, Hale's betrayal, 164. 
Evarts, William M., orator Linonia, 143. 
Evelyn, William, Capt., British officer, and Hale, 74. 
Ewing, Gen., and spies, lOln. 

Fairchild, J., student, 34. 
Fairfield, Conn., 41. 



INDEX 283 

Fellows, Col., Dorchester lines, 241. 

Field, Cyrus W., Andre and Hale memorials, 147; letter, 147. 

Finch, F. M., poem on Hale, 144-146. 

Fitch, E., college play, 33n. 

Fitch, J., Yale steward, 35. 

Flatbush, L. I., fighting at, 257. 

Flint, Royal, 34; and Hale, 242. 

Flushing, L. I., 113. 

Forbs, inn, 256. 

Fosdick, T. U., Hale's sergeant, 95, 259; attack on Phoenix, 149; letter, 

218, 225, 228. 
Fox, Louisa, Hale's pupil, 81. 
Fraser, quartermaster, 251-252. 

Gates, Adj.-Gen., orders, 88, 181. 

Gay, Alice M., Miss., Hale transcripts, ix. 

Gerhardt, Karl, sculptor Hale statue, 266. 

Gibson, Roger, school proprietor, 177. 

Gilbert, Jasper, Hale material, 56. 

Goodwin, James J., Hale statue, 266. 

Goshen, Conn., 171. 

Gould, W., student, 193. 

Gove, Mable, sewing for Hale, 81. 

Gratz, Simon, Hon., Hale letters, viii. 

Green, James, Capt., East Haddam, 45n. 

Green, Samuel, pupil, 51. 

Green, Timothy, school proprietor, 177; engages Hale, 45-47; 198; letters 

to Hale, 219-221. 
Greene, Gen., letter to, from President Stiles, 46n. 
Greene, Richard H., Hale relic, 45n. 
Green's, inn, 88. 
Greenwich, Conn., 67. 
Gridley, Isaac, Hale's roommate, 20. 

Griswold, Matthew, Gov., vote for as Councillor, 234; in camp, 242, 
Grosvenor's, inn, 256. 
Groton, Conn., 67, 155n, 169. 
Gully [Gurley], W., student, 193; in camp, 245. 

Hale, Arthur, Mr., Hale MSS., 191n; poem, vid. Bibliography. 

Hale, Billy, 4, 197. 

Hale, brothers and sisters named, 3-4. 

Hale, Coventry homestead, 9, lOn, 153. 

Hale, David, Rev., 3; pastor, 11, 54; farm, 11; David H., nephew of 

Nathan, 14. 
Hale, Edward E., Rev., Hale correspondence, ix, 149, 176, 183; address, 

130n; betrayal story, 169; vid. Bibliography. 



284 INDEX 

Hale, Elizabeth, 3; marries, 49; family, 83; Hale visits, 255. 

Hale, Ellen D., Hale correspondence, ix. 

Hale, Enoch, Rev., 4; at college, 15, 25-26, 28, 31; teacher, 42, 50; 
pastor, 54, 92; M. A. degree, 92; brother's fate, 117; diary quoted, 
130; brother's capture, 161; betrayal story, 167-169, 196; letter, 197. 

Hale, John, 3, lOn; marries, 56; Lexington alarm, 62; letter, 197. 

Hale, John, Rev., ancestor, 6. 

Hale, Joseph, 4; Lexington alarm, 62; in army, 196. 

Hale, Nathan, letters and papers, vii-x; birth, family, 1, 3; ancestry, 
4-9; homestead, 9, lOn; farm, 11; school, 12; church, 13; death of 
mother, 14; recollections of, 14; college preparation, 14; our special 
interest in, 17; at Yale, room, friends, 18; life, father's advice, 
expenses, clothes, studies, 25; literary tastes, Tallraadge, 29, 30, 36; 
Linonia Society, 31; farewell to "Sirs," 31, 184; plays, epilogue, 32; 
Commencement exercises, 34; college friendships, 35; description and 
eulogy of, 37, 39; at Portsmouth, 40; schoolmaster at East Haddam, 
42; methods and society, 43; at New London school, 45; correspond- 
ence on, 45-47; proprietors, 48; success as teacher, 48, 51-53; letters 
from, 49; friends, SO; G. Saltonstall, 53; reengages to teach, 54; 
brothers as pastors, 54; Alice Adams, 56-58; engaged to her, love 
poem, 59; her qualities, 60; war opens, 61; Parson Peters, 62; 
speech on independence, 65; army commission, 67; advice from Tall- 
madge, 68; resigns school, 69; recruiting, 70; marches to Boston, 
73; Camp Winter Hill, incidents, 73-74; described in verse, 75; 
Harvard "domes," 75; duties, 76; correspondence, 77; remains in 
service, new company, 79; furlough, 80; at home, 81; returns to 
camp, 81; "Common Sense" and independence, 83; marches to New 
York, 88; camp, 90; tories, army, 91; M. A. diploma, 92; battle, 
Long Island, 93; Hale not engaged, 95; promise as a soldier, 95; 
with "Knowlton's Rangers," 102; approached on spy service, 104; 
Hull's advice, 106; Hale's reply, 107; Washington's instructions, 
108n; in enemy's lines, 108, 111; disguise. 111; risks, 113; observa- 
tions, 114; suspected and executed, 115; news of his fate, 116; place 
of capture, 119; examined by Howe, 121; his "full confession," 122; 
Cunningham, 123; Montressor and Hull on execution, 124; hanged 
at Dove Tavern, 126; last moments and words, 127-129; indignation 
at headquarters, 129; father's grief, 130; Enoch's account, 131; 
Coventry inscription, 132; Andre's case, 133; Dwight's eulogy, 134; 
preservation of Hale's memory, 135; compared with Andre, 136-138; 
Hannah Adams on, 138; writers and historians on, 142; college 
remembrance, 143; poem by F. M. Finch, 144; statue at Yale, 
146; remembrance at New York, letter from Cyrus W. Field, 
147; New York statue, 148; Hale's last letter, 149; the Asia 
episode, 150; miniature of, 151; description, profile, 152-153; 
Hempstead's account of, 154; place of capture, 157; site of execu- 
tion, 161; new map, 162; betrayal of, 164; first account, 164; 



INDEX 285 

Samuel Hall, the tory cousin, 165; hearsay versions, 167; father's 
letter on, 167; Hale namesake, 171; Hale correspondence, 175- 
239. [Vid. title below, "Letters" to and from Hale, with sum- 
mary of contents.] Hale's commission, 192; Linonia minutes, 193; 
army diary, 240; company officers, 258; tributes, 260; memorials, 
266; bibliography, 270. 

Hale, Richard, Nathan's father; birth, marriage, 3-5; at Coventry, 7; 
deacon and deputy, 11; farm, 11; advice to sons, 25-26; grief over 
Nathan's fate, 130; on the betrayal story, 167; letters from, 194-196. 

Hale, Robert, first settler, 5. 

Hale, Samuel, Nathan's grandfather, 7. 

Hale, Samuel, uncle, Portsmouth, 7, 40; Nathan visits, 40; letter to, 49; 
rejects betrayal story, 169; letter on, from Deacon Hale, 196. 

Hale, Samuel, Portsmouth, loyalist cousin, 121 ; charged with betrayal, 
164-169; sketch of, 165-166; letter on, 196. 

Hale, William, Hon., on Nathan, 40. 

Halifax, British sail to, 82, 181. 

Halifax, ship, connected with Hale's capture, off New Rochelle, 101 ; 
off Huntington, 110, 160; log of, llln, 159. 

Hall, Capt., 242. 

Hall, Lieut.-Col. of Hale's regiment, 242-249. 

Hall, student, 193. 

Hallam, Edward, 226; writes to Hale, 243. 

Hallam, John, New London, letters to Hale, 80, 221-224, 180, 242-243; 
in camp, 244, 248; Hale writes to, 249. 

Hallam, Mrs. and Betsey, compliments to Hale, 222, 245. 

Hamilton, Alex., Capt., and Hale, with flag of truce, 116, 117n. 

Hamilton, British countersign, 244. 

Hamlin, Jabez, vote for as Councillor, 234. 

Hammon, Isaac, soldier, 250. 

Hammons, inn, 255. 

Hancock, John, President of Congress, house not despoiled by British, 
83 ; signs Hale's commission, 192, 232. 

Hanoverian troops for America, 221. 

Hanover, N. H., 52n. 

Harlem Heights, battle, 104, 115. 

Hartford comrades, on Hale, 141. 

Hartford, county towns, 41, 51, 56; statues at, 266. 

Hartford Courant and "Common Sense," 84; Hale letter, 196n. 

Harvard, College, commencement, 24n; Hale on, 75, 189. 

Hastings, Mrs., and Alice Adams, 152. 

Hatch, William, soldier, 250; dies, 251, 

Hatfield, Mass., 208. 

Havemeyer, W. F., Hale letters, ix, 87n. 

Hays, student, 193. 



286 INDEX 

Heath, Gen., Hale in brigade of, marches to New York, 88-90, 180; 
memoir quoted, 90; Washington to, on spies, 100-101. 

Hebron, Conn., and Parson Peters, 62, 176. 

Hempstead, L. I., 113. 

Hempstead, Sergeant, 96; attends Hale, 108; account of Hale's attempt 
and fate, 120, 154-157, 160, 227, 231, 235, 254; in Hale's company, 
259. 

Hewit, Reuben, Sergeant Hale's company, 258. 

Hill's, inn, 256. 

Hillard, Ensign in Hale's company, 239, 258. 

Hillhouse, James, classmate, Yale treasurer, 146; writes to Hale, 203. 

Hoadley, George E., Hartford, possessor of Hale poem, ix, 191 ; receipts 
of Hale's soldiers, 82n; Alice Adams relics, 191n, 

Holmes, Abiel, "Annals" and Hale, 140. 

Holmes, John, soldier, 250. 

Holt, John, 225. 

Hopkins, Commodore, at Philadelphia, 235. 

Hopkins' Grammar School, New Haven, 42. 

Hosmer, Titus, vote for as Councillor, 234. 

Howe, Frank L., Hale letter, 196n. 

Howe, Joseph, tutor at Yale, 19 ; death of, 245. 

Howe, Sir William, Gen., evacuates Boston, 82; opens campaign at New 
York, 93; battle of Long Island, 93-95; headquarters, 121; orders 
Hale's execution, 115, 122, 124-125, 131, 116-119; Provost-Marshal 
Cunningham, 123, 127-128, 130, 251; camp at New York, 162. 

Hoyt, Captain, 250. 

Hubbard, Russell, Captain, school proprietor, 178. 

Hubbel, Captain, 248-250. 

Hull, William, Captain, Hale's close friend, 67-68, 97; advises Hale to 
decline spy service, 106-107; learns of his fate, 117-118; account of 
his capture and execution, 124-125, 139-140; compliments to, 218, 
225-229, 235, 238; Hale mentions, 244, 249, 253. 

Humphrey, Daniel, teacher, 42. 

Humphrey, Marvin's pupil, Norwich, 202. 

Humphreys, David, 42, 87. 

Huntington, Andrew, Norwich, 83. 

Huntington, Ebenezer, Lieut., 218. 

Huntington, Jedediah, Col., evacuation of Boston, 83 ; death of wife, 251. 

Huntington, Joseph, Rev., Hale's pastor and teacher, 16; recommenda- 
tion from, 45, 219; Hale calls on, 255. 

Huntington, Long Island, Hale crosses to, 109-111; place of capture, 157- 
161; memorial at, 267. 

Huntington, Samuel, Hon., 16; vote for as Councillor, 234. 

Hurlbut, George, Sergt., Hale's company, 235, 258; Ensign, 81, 95, 219, 
223, 247, 250-252, 258 ; camp letters, 224-228. 



INDEX 287 

Independence, Hale on, 63-65; supposed speech on, 66; Paine's "Common 
Sense," 83-84; Robinson on, 85-87; Declaration of, read to the troops, 
90-91. 

Independent Chronicle, Boston, on Hale, 136. 

Jackson's, inn, 255. 

Jacobs', inn, 255-256. 

Jamaica, L. I., 113, 

Jamaica Plain, Mass., 256. 

Johnson, Guy, 221; reported killed, 231, 241. 

Johnson, Mathias, with enemy's escort, dead, 221. 

Johnson, William S., vote for as Councillor, 234. 

Jones', inn, 255. 

Jones, Thomas, Judge, denounces his College, 25. 

Joshua, Mohegan Sachem, and the Coventry tract, 2. 

Judson, Andrew T., Hon., address on Hale, Coventry, 13, 143. 

Kane, Grenville, Hale letter, ix, 50n. 

Keith's, inn, 255. 

Kelby, Robert H., librarian, Hale material, ix. 

Kelby, William, site of Hale's execution, 118n, 164n. 

Keyes", inn, 255. 

Keyes, classmate, 34, 201. 

Kindal's, inn, 255. 

Kingsbury, Deacon, Coventry, 245, 255. 

Knapp, Prof., on Hale, 140. 

Knowlton, Thomas, Col., organizes "Rangers," 102; Hale joins, 102-103; 
Washington and, 104; Hale and spy service, 104-105; death in 
battle, Harlem Heights, 104; Hull's reference to, 139. 

Lady Spencer, ship, llOn. 

Lafayette, Gen., and Hale, 137, 

Lafayette, Gen., on Hale, 137. 

Lane, Mr., tailor, Coventry, 81, 

Lathrop, 9. 

Latimer, Jonathan, Major of Hale's regiment, 67, 81, 222, 240, 250-257. 

Latimer, Mrs., 227; compliments to Hale, 229-230. 

Latimer, Robert, Hale's pupil, 52-53; letters to Hale, 228-230; in camp, 
250. 

Law, Richard, Judge, school proprietor, 177, 220; vote for as Coun- 
cillor, 234. 

Lawrence, William, marries Alice Adams, 60. 

Learned, Mr., Rev., preaches in camp, 244. 

Leavenworth, Capt., 201, 241-254. 

Lebanon, Conn., 47, 197. 

Lechmere's Point, 73, 254. 



288 INDEX 

Ledyard, Ebenezer, New London Committee, 234. 

Lee, Charles, Gen., Hale visits, 76, 251; at New York, 82, 245, 249, 25L 

Leggett, William, on Hale, 141. 

Leonard, S., student, 193. 

Letters from Hale — to his uncle, family items, school described, 49; to 
his brother Enoch, army news, attack on the Phoenix, 149; to class- 
mate. Mead, East Haddam, correspondence, school, 175 ; to his 
brother, liberty-pole. Parson Peters, 176; to Dr. Munson, his school, 
177; to school proprietors, notice of meeting, 177; to same, resigns 
position, 178; to Miss Christophers, friendly note, 179; to his 
brother, army situation at New York, critical period, 180; to same, 
with similar contents, family references, 182; Linonia Valedictory, 
184; to classmate Tallmadge, lively vein, in rhyme, 186; to (un- 
known), description of his camp, Washington, Harvard, etc., 188; 
to his affianced, Alicia, love sentiments, in poetry, 190; to W. Salton- 
stall, school bill, 191. 

Letters to Hale — from classmate Tallmadge, Hale in love, 58; from 
classmate Robinson, friendly, the King, Paine's "Common Sense," 
independence, 85; three notes from his father, advice, expenses, 
clothes, etc., 194-195; from brother Enoch, personal items, 197; from 
brother John, illness at home, E. Ripley's estate, 197; from class- 
mate Alden, Fast day, 198-199; reflections, 199; Hale's indifference, 
wishes to enter the army, 200-201 ; from classmate Marvin, Norwich, 
quarter day at his school, 202; news items, the Pennymites, 203; 
company drill, 204; Hale's "other self," poetry, 204-205; lack of army 
discipline, 206; dislikes teaching, America and Britain, 207; from 
Robinson, his school, Cooley's marriage, 208; from classmate Selden, 
the fighting at Roxbury, 210; from classmate Tallmadge, reply to 
Hale's criticisms, 212-213; his school at Wethersfield, 214; advice to 
Hale on joining the army, 215-216; from Mr. Dwight, appreciative 
of Hale, "Conquest of Canaan," 217; from Thomas U. Fosdick, de- 
cides to join army, 218; three notes from Timothy Green, invitation 
to teach at New London, 219-220; from John Hallam, news from 
New London, Dr. Church, 221; fortifying the town, 223-224; from 
Ensign Hurlbut, soldiers returning, cool reception of, alarm, 224- 
225; the soldiers, fortifying, 226; Bunker Hill picket, camp items,. 
227-228; from Robert Latimer, Hale's pupil, obligations to his 
teacher, 229; from D. Mumford, brief, 230; from G. Saltonstall, 
seven letters, sends war news, 231; Hale's exposed camp, marine 
events, 232; military affairs at New London, 233-234; fortifying, 
Dr. Church, the King's address, vote for Councillors, 234-235; con- 
duct of Connecticut soldiers, 236; excitement in town, 237; genius 
of the people, 238; from Church and Hallam, New York business 
matter, 239; from Lieut. Belcher, recruiting at Stonington, 239; 
from Tallmadge, school items, 269. 



INDEX 289 

Lexington alarm, 61 ; Hale and, 65-66, 69. 

Liberty-pole, New London, 62; New York, 176. 

Linonia, Yale Society, Hale secretary of, 31; exercises, 31-32; comedies, 

31-33; anniversary of, 143; library, 146; Hale's farewell to "Sirs," 

184; minutes, 193. 
Livingston, William, Gen., and spies, 100. 
Lockwood, Mr., 214. 
Lockwood, Mrs., Wethersfield, 214. 
"London Remembrancer," on Hale, 136. 
Long Island, Hale stationed on, 91; battle of, 93-94; Hale not engaged 

in, 95 ; Washington and situation after, 98-101. 
"Long Island Star," Hempstead on Hale, 154. 
Louisburg, siege, 40. 
Lounsbury, Gov., Hale statue, 264. 
Lyman, G. C, student, 193, 255. 
Lyman, J., tutor at Yale, 19. 
Lyme, Hale at, 57, 67, 197, 231, 259. 

Mackduel, David, New London, 226. 

MacMonnies, F., sculptor, statue of Hale, 148, 267. 

MacMullen, John, tribute to Hale, 263. 

McDougall, Gen., Hale in brigade of, 90, 257. 

Manly, Capt., captures prize, 254. 

Mann's, inn, 88. 

Martin, Gov., 235. 

Marvin, Elihu, classmate, 42, 50, 57; Hale's engagement, 59, 78; at 

Norwich, 81; joins the army, 96, 151; letters to Hale, 201-207. 
Mary and John, ship, 8. 

Matthews, Mr., Hon., Continental Congress, 254. 
Maynard, L., Hale's drummer, 80, 228. 
Mead, Thomas, classmate, 34-35; Hale to, 50, 175, 193. 
Medcaff, Mr. 175. 
Mercer, H., Gen., and spies, 100. 
Merlin, ship, 109, 159. 
Merwin, N., student, 193. 

Mifflin, Maj., 232; Col. and quartermaster, 252. 
Milford, Conn., 67. 

Millaly, Michael, Capt., school proprietor, 178. 
Miller, Jeremiah, school proprietor, 178. 
Minard, J., soldier, 250. 
Mohegans, and the Coventry tract, 1-2. 
Montgomery, Gen., 242. 

Montgomery, James M., Hale statue at New York, 148. 
Montgomery, sloop, 109-111. 
Montreal, 227. 



2go INDEX 

Montressor, John, Capt., word of Hale's execution, 116-117; account of, 

124-125; quarters of, 163. 
Moodus (East Haddam), Conn., Hale at, 42, 175-176; Robinson, 44-45, 

208. 
Morgan, Forrest, tribute to Hale, 264. 
Mumford, David, Capt., school trustee, 178. 
Mumford, David, Jr., letter to Hale, 230, 234, 244, 245. 
Mumford, Mr., 224-225; Dr. M., 232. 
Mumford, Robinson, Capt., school trustee, 177. 
Mumford, Thomas, school trustee, 178, 233. 
Munson, Dr., and Hale, 38-39, 70, 143, 152. 
Murray, Gen., 221. 

Nevins, Mr., 207; Ensign N., 231. 

New Defence, ship, llOn. 

New Haven, Conn., 26, 38, 41; schools at, 42; soldiers, 67; Hale at, 69, 70. 

New London, Conn., Hale's school, 45, 47; Grammar school, 48; families, 
48, 51-53; history, 52, 54; liberty-pole, 62; Gazette, 63, 65; public 
meeting, 65; Lexington alarm, 66; recruiting at, 70; troops march, 
71, 77-78, 80, 81; Gazette, 84; troops at, 88; Washington at, 89; 
Hale's letters from, 175-179; Union School proprietors, 177, 195-196; 
letters from, to Hale, with local items, 220-237 ; alarm, trenches at, 
222; recruiting, 223-224; fortifying, 225, 231-232; powder at, 233; 
Saltonstall's company, 233; military committee, 234; alarm and 
confusion, 236; town spirit, 237; schoolhouse, 267. 

Newtown, L. L, 113. 

Newtown, Mass., 255. 

New York, military base, 82; army marches to, 88; defense of, 89; camps, 
90, 92; enemy arrive, 93; problems and anxieties, 98; Howe cap- 
tures, 103, 112-113; Hale, spy at, 113-115; captured and executed at, 
115, 120; British quarters, 121, 123; Dove tavern, site of execution, 
126; statue at, 147-148; 158, 160, 161-164, 180, 182, 234, 238, 267. 

Niger, ship, log of, 159. 

Niles, Capt., in armed schooner, 221, 232. 

Niles Register, on Hale, 140. 

Northampton, Mass., 8, 19. 

Norwalk, Conn., 67; Hale crosses from, 108-111, 119, 155-156. 

Norwich, Conn., school, 42, 46, 92; Marvin's letters to Hale from, 201- 
207. 

Norwalk, Conn., Hale crosses from, 108, 110-111, 156; memorial at, 268. 

Norwich, Conn., Hale at, 81, 88, 92; Marvin at, 201n; letters from, 201- 
207. 

Olney's, inn, 240. 

Onderdonk, Henry, on Hale, llln, 142, 158. 

Owen, John, teacher. New London, 48. 



INDEX 29 1 

Packwood, Joseph, Capt., school proprietor, 177. 
Packwood, Wm., Capt., school proprietor, 177, 221, 223. 
Page, Joseph, Hale's sergeant, 258. 

Paine, Thomas, "Common Sense," 83-84; Robinson on, 86, 87, 91. 
Parker, Sir Hyde, attack on the "Phoenix," 150. 
Parker's, inn, 240, 256. 
Parliament, 63; Robinson on, 85, 181. 

Parsons, S. H., Col., 183, 209n; vote for as Councillor, 234, 245. 
Partridge, William O., sculptor. Hale statue, 267. 
Peake, Alvan, precocious pupil, 43-44. 
Pennymites, 203. 
Pequots, 61. 

Percy, Earl, at New York, 121, 162. 
Perrit, Capt., of Milford, 110, 218, 241, 242. 
Peters, Samuel, Rev., treatment of, 62; Hale on, 176. 
Phoenix, ship, attack on, 149, 150. 
Philip, King, 61. 
Pirkin's, inn, 256. 

Pitkin, William, vote for as Councillor, 234. 
Pixley, E., student, play, 33. 
Plaindealer, on Hale, 141. 
Ploughed Hill, Hale at, 73, 248. 
Pomfret, Conn., inn at, 256. 

Pond, Charles, Capt., conveys Hale to Huntington, 108-110, 155; 246. 
Poole, Elizabeth, Hale as teacher, 51-52n. 
Poole, Thomas, published, 243. 
Porter, Noah, Yale President, 27. 
Portsmouth, N. H., Hale at, 40, 49, 162, 165-166. 
Pounce, Norwich pupil, 202. 
Pratt, Bela, sculptor. Hale statue, 146, 267-268. 
Prentis, Sergeant, 250. 
Princeton College, drama at, 33n. 
Prospect Hill, 73, 77; wrestling match, 244, 247. 
Providence, R. I., Hale marches through, 71, 88, 240. 
Putnam, Gen., Hale visits, 76; former ranger, 102; Hale's execution, 
116-117n; in camp, Cambridge, 190, 244-245, 252, 254. 

Quarme, Capt., brig Halifax, 110-111; Hale's capture, 158, 160. 
Quarter Day, at Yale, 33; at Marvin's school, 51, 202. 
Quebec, 13, 253. 

Randall, J, W., tribute to Hale, 262. 

Randolph, Peyton, death of, 245. 

Read, William A., possessor of Hale material, ix. 

Reed, Deacon, Uxbridge, 255-256. 

Reed, Joseph, Adj.-Gen., and Hale, 116. 



292 INDEX 

Rehoboth, Mass., Hale marches through, 71, 240. 

Remblington, drummer, 228. 

Richards, Guy, Capt., school proprietor, 177; R., Jr., 257. 

Richards, John, 48, 53n; school proprietor, 177, 204, 215, 217. 

Ripley, Elijah, marries Alice Adams, 57; estate, 196. 

Ripley, Mrs., see Alice Adams. 

Robertson, Daniel, 246. 

Robertson, Patrick, 226. 

Robinson, aunt, 255. 

Robinson, Capt., 255. 

Robinson, William, Rev., classmate, 26; Commencement, 34; Hale's 

friend, 35, 42, 50, 54, 58; letter on "Common Sense," 84-87; Hale's 

capture, llln; to Hale, 208. 
Rogers, teacher, 46n. 
Rogers, Robert, old ranger, 102. 

Rogers, William, Capt., sloop Montgomery, 109-llOn. 
Root, Ephraim, inn, 198. 
Rose, Dr., 49. 

Rose, Samuel, marries Hale's sister, 49, 255. 
Roseter, Dr., 242. 
Roxbury, Mass., 71; Hale visits, camps at, 75, 82, 87, 180, 188, 241, 243, 

254, 256. 
"Rule Brittania," American version, 65. 
Rutgers' orchard, N. Y., Hale's execution, 126, 161. 

Sage, Col., 221, 242; Lieut. S., 255. 

Salmon Brook, Conn., 15, 131. 

Saltonstall, Dudley, Capt., navy, 77, 80, 224, 226, 237. 

Saltonstall, Gilbert, friend and correspondent, 53, 57, 77 \ joins army, 
96; letters to Hale, 231-237, 242, 245, 257; Hale writes to, 243, 249. 

Saltonstall, Gurdon, Col., Gilbert's father, 96, 218, 233, 237. 

Saltonstall, N., Lieut., navy, 224. 

Saltonstall, Winthrop, school proprietor, 177, 191. 

Saltonstall, W. W., on Hale, 52n. 

Sampson, Ezra, Rev., 28, 35, 86-87. 

Sargent, Winthrop, Andre and Hale, 137n. 

Saybrook, Conn., 67. 

Schools in Connecticut, 1773, Trumbull on, 41; district, grammar and 
private, 41-42; Humphrey's, 42; Hale's, East Haddam, 43-45; Wood- 
stock, 43 ; Union School, 48 ; Owen's, New London, 48 ; proprietors, 
177-178; Alden's, 198; Marvin's, 202, 206-207; Robinson's and E. 
Hale's, 208; Tallmadge's, 214, 219-221. 

Schuyler, Philip, Gen., 231. 

Schuyler, Pond's sloop, captures prizes, 109-llOn; Hale crosses to Hunt- 
ington in, 110-113; Hempstead's mention, 155. 

Scott, Thomas, Capt., British spy, 170. 



INDEX 293 

Seabury, David, merchant, New York, 239. 

Selden, Ezra, 35; in army, 97; letter to Hale, 209. 

Seymour, George D., Hale letters, ix, 230, 269. 

Shaw, Nathaniel, Jr., school proprietor, 178; New London Committee, 

234; Shaw's "Neck," 234, 239. 
Sheldon, E. B., Miss, and Alice Adams, lS2n. 
Sheldon, Elisha, vote for as Councillor, 234. 
Sheldon, J. A., poem on Hale, 143. 
Shelton, message to, 214. 
Sherburne, Mr., house in Boston, 83. 
Sherman, Daniel, vote for as Councillor, 234. 
Sherman, Isaac, in army, 97. 
Sherman, Judge, 26, 194. 
Sherman, Roger, vote for as Councillor, 234. 
Shipman, Capt., Hale's regiment, 241. 
Silliman, Benjamin, Prof., and Hale monument, 143. 
Slack, Eliphalet, inn, 240. 
Smith, George D., Hale poem, ix, 190. 
Smith, Mr., Rev., sermon in camp, 241. 
Sons of American Revolution, Hale schoolhouse, 268. 
Sons of Revolution, Hale statue, N. Y., 148, 267; schoolhouse, 268. 
Sparks, Jared, on Hale, 142. 
Spencer, Joseph, Gen., Hale visits in camp, 76; dined with, 241; in 

brigade of, 180-182; vote for as Councillor, 234, 245, 254, 256. 
Spies, officers as, 169-170. 
Sprague, Dr. Rev., Hale material, 230n. 
St. Paul, Hale statue at, 267. 
Stamford, Conn., 67; crossing place, 131, 156n. 
Stanley, Dean, Andre memorial, 147. 
Staten Island, British army at, 93. 

Sterling, Lord, Gen., Hale in brigade of, 90, 180, 182. 
Stewart, Duncan, school proprietor, 177. 
Stiles, Ezra, Yale President, to Gen. Greene, 46n. 
Stokes, Anson Phelps, possessor of Hale letters, viii. 
Stone's, inn, 255. 
Stonington, Conn., 67; alarm at, 70, 203, 223, 232; Hale recruits from, 

239. 
Strayton's, inn, 255. 
Strong, Elizabeth, Hale's mother, birth and marriage, 3, 5; qualities, 

8, 11; Nathan's education, 14-15; death of, 14. Elizabeth S., Hale's 

grandmother, qualities, 7-8, 9, 183. 
Strong, Elnathan, settles in Connecticut, 8. 
Strong, John, Elder, Hale's ancestor, earliest settler, 8. 
Strong, Joseph, Coventry settler, 8; Rev. Joseph, 14; chaplain, 96; 

cousin Joseph, 247. 
Strong, Nathan, Hale named after, 4; Rev. Nathan, Coventry pastor. 



294 INDEX 

15, 255; Rev. Nathan, latter's son, 15; tutor at Yale, 19, 54; chap- 
lain, 96. 

Strong, Phineas, 63. 

Strong, Preserved, 9. 

Strong homestead, Coventry, 9. 

Strongs, The, Hale's ancestry, 5, 8-10. 

Stuart, I. W., biography of Hale, vii; quoted, 11-12; Hale volunteering 
as a spy, 105n, 142, 266. 

Sullivan, Gen., Hale in brigade of, 71, 180-182, 241; visits to, 76, 247, 
250-252, 256. 

Sunderland, Mass., school, 208. 

Susquehannah purchase, dispute over, 203. 

Syren, British ship, 109, 159. 

Tallmadge, Benjamin, classmate and schoolmaster, 15, 42; as to Hale's 
college room, 20n, 213; the Berkeley prize, 28; corresponds with 
Hale in college, 29-30, 211-214; on Commencement stage, 34; friend- 
ship for Hale, 35-36; school at Wethersfield, 42; describes it, 51, 53n, 
214; charges Hale with being in love, 58; advises Hale as to enter- 
ing the service, 68-69; joins the army, 96; reminds Andre of Hale's 
fate, 132; letter from Hale in rhyme, 30, 186; public services of, 
211n; letter to Hale, school items, 269. 

Tallmadge, Frederick S., and Hale statue, 148. 

Temple's house, 248. 

Thompson, B. F., historian, on Hale, 142; place of his capture, 158, 160. 

Thomson, Gen., 181-182. 

Thomson, Charles, Secretary of Congress, attests Hale's Captain's com- 
mission, 192. 

Tilghman, T., aid to Washington, flag of truce and Hale's execution, 
117; on spies and Hale's case, 129-130. 

Tisdale, Nathan, noted schoolmaster, Norwich, 47, 54. 

Tolbot, Daniel, privateersman, 253. 

Tracy, Phineas, teacher, 46-47, 219, 221. 

Trenton, New Jersey, lOln. 

Trumbull, Gov., and school in Connecticut, 41; Norwich school pro- 
prietor, 47; vote for as Councillor, 234. 

Trumbull, John, tutor at Yale, 19; "Progress of Dulness" quoted, 44. 

Trumbull, Joseph, Col., illness of, 243; on trial, 254. 

Turner, Samuel, 241. 

Turtle Bay, New York, Hale lands at, 88; artillery park at, 126, 162-163. 

Tuttle, Captain, 243. 

Union School, New London, Hale invited to, 45-47; takes charge, 47; 

proprietors of, 48, 177-178; described by Hale, 49; his success, 50-54; 

resigns, 69, 178-179. 
Uxbridge, Mass., Hale stops at, 256. 



INDEX 295 

Vandervert, Mr., powder at Philadelphia, 224. 

Van Vieck, Mr., merchant, New York, 239. 

Van Wyke, Capt., killed, 257. 

Varnum, Col., Hale and "Young's memoirs," 246; 250. 

Vassell, Col., loyalist, Cambridge, Hale on, 189; Widow V., 189. 

Virginia, Fairfax Co., war meeting, Washington presides, 64. 

Waldo, Dr., Hale's betrayal, 131, 167. 
Wallace, Commodore, British navy, 232, 237, 242. 
Walpole, Mass., 71, 240. 
Ward, A., Col., 149. 
Ward, James, 226. 

Warner, Chas. D., address on Hale, 266. 
Warren, James, oration by, 64. 
Warren, Mrs., historian, on Hale, 140. 

Washington, Gen., war meeting, 64; college escort, 70n; commands at 
Boston, 70, 73; Hale's reference to, 75; new army, 79; permits 
furloughs, 80, 83 ; sends army to New York, 88-89 ; force, 93 ; battle 
of Long Island, 94, 96; anxieties, 98-99; letters from, 100-101; the 
"Rangers," 102; Knowlton, 104-105; Hale, 108n, 112, 116; to Howe, 
117; Hale's case, 129; Knowlton and Hale, 139, 155, 165, 181, 188, 
243 ; officers' petition to, 245. 
Waterman, Capt., 201-202. 
Waterman's, inn, 240. 

Waterous, Josiah, New London Committee, 234. 
Watertown, Mass., 75, 188, 255. 

Webb, Charles, Col., Hale joins regiment of, 67; recruited from coast 
towns, 67; ordered to Boston camp, 70-71; stationed at Winter Hill, 
73; regiment. Nineteenth Foot, 79; marches to New York, 88; camp 
at, 90; on Long Island, 91; not engaged in battle, 95; Enoch Hale 
visits regiment, 131; ordered northward, countermanded, 181-182; 
referred to, 242-256. 
Webb, Charles, Lieut, 96; in Hale's company, 259. 

Webb, Samuel B., aid to Washington, on Hale's fate, 117, 131, 161, 235. 
Welch, M., student, 193. 

Westhampton, Mass., Enoch Hale pastor at, 54. 
Wethersfield, Conn., Tallmadge at, 42, 51, 53, 68, 117, 214, 217; Hale 

refers to, 187. 
Whitestone Bay, 159. 
Whiting's, inn, 241n, 256. 
Whitney, Capt., 249. 
Whittemore, Samuel, New London, 234. 
Whittlesey, Mr., Rev., 92. 
Whittlesey, Ensign, 254. 
Wieners, Godfrey, Maj., Hale letters, ix. 
Williams College, 33n. 



2g6 INDEX 

Williams, E., 35; letter to Hale, 69, 193. 

Williams, Nat., 226. 

Williams, William, vote for as Councillor, 234. 

Windham, Conn., Hale at, 81 ; Sons of Liberty of, 176, 256. 

Windsor, Conn., 8; Robinson at, 42; E. Hale near, 42; Wolcott family. 

East Windsor, S8n. 
Winter Hill, camp near Boston, Hale at, 71, 73, 180-182, 222-223, 227; 

point of danger, 77; stumped by Prospect Hill, 77; Hale refers to, 

241-256. 
Winthrop, John, New London, 48 ; school proprietor, 177. 
Winthrop's Neck, New London, 234. 
Witchcraft, Rev. J. Hale on, 6. 
Wolcott, Dr., in camp, 241, 257. 
Wolcott, Naomi, East Windsor, 58n. 

Wolcott, Oliver, college customs, 23; vote for as Councillor, 234. 
Woodbridge, J. L., student, 193 ; in camp, 201, 226-228, 244. 
Woods', inn, 256. 

Woods, Enoch S., sculptor of Hale statue, 265. 
Woodstock, Conn., school, 43. 

Woolsey, Theodore D., Prof., and Hale monument, 143. 
Wooster, Gen., 249. 
Wrentham, Mass., 71, 240. 

Wright, Asher, Hale's waiter; the Asia story, 150-151. 
Wyllys, John P., 32; on Commencement stage, 34-35; in the army, 96-97; 

corresponds with Hale, 175. 

Yale College, in 1769-73; Hale material at, ix; Hale enters, 16; Presi- 
dent, tutors, students, 19; college buildings, 20; compared with the 
modern university, 21; standing rules, offenses and fines, 22; customs 
and costumes, treatment of the Freshmen, 23 ; student life, attitude 
on the home revenue measures, 24; Hale and father's advice, 25; 
expenses at, homespun worn, 25-27; studies and curriculum, 27; the 
Berkeley scholarship, 28 ; Latin pronunciation and English literature 
at, 27-30; literary societies, "Linonia" and "Brothers in Unity," 31- 
32, 193; diversions, plays and dramas, 32-33; quarter days, 33; 
commencement exercises of Hale's class, 34-35; student friendships, 
35-36; military company at, 69-70; Yale Literary Magazine on Hale, 
143; College remembrance of Hale, Linonia centennial, 143-146; 
Hale statue at, 146, 267. 






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